43 years of reign. Several weeks of absence. While Paul Biya remains invisible, political scientist Paul Stéphane MENOUNGA seizes the Constitutional Council. Subject: a major “institutional incongruity.” The Constitution provides for a Vice-President to manage the vacancy, but the law does not say who seizes the Council if this position is vacant. “An ambiguity in such a matter can produce considerable political and institutional consequences.”
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Cameroon is hanging by a thread. And this thread is called silence.
For several weeks, Paul Biya has been absent from the public scene. No images, no directives, no sign of life except for a few decrees published. At the top of the State, a void is settling in. And it is in this void that the law shows its flaws.
Political scientist Paul Stéphane MENOUNGA has decided to no longer remain silent. He officially seized the President of the Constitutional Council in a letter where he denounces a legal time bomb.
“I have the honor to seize you […] regarding a constitutional difficulty raised […] by the articulation between the provisions now in force relating to the Vice-Presidency of the Republic and those governing the functioning of the Constitutional Council.”
According to the political scientist, the problem is simple and serious. Article 6 paragraph 5 of the Constitution states that the Vice-President completes the term in case of vacancy. Paragraph 6 even admits that “the position of Vice-President may not be filled.”
But the law on the Constitutional Council provides nothing. Its article 38 paragraph 3 states that “the Constitutional Council is seized for this purpose by the Vice-President of the Republic” to establish the definitive impediment. And if the Vice-President does not exist?
“What happens when the position of Vice-President is not filled?” asks MENOUNGA. Radio silence in the texts.
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Also empty for resignation: “the President sends his letter of resignation to the President of the Constitutional Council and to the Vice-President of the Republic.” And if the second recipient does not exist, to whom is the letter handed?
For the political scientist, it is not a question of challenging the texts. It is about pointing out “an incongruity between two provisions now applicable and questioning their practical articulation.”
“Constitutional law must be particularly precise when it organizes succession at the top of the State, because an ambiguity in such a matter can produce considerable political and institutional consequences.”
The question he poses to the Council is chilling: “In the hypothesis where the Presidency of the Republic becomes vacant while the position of Vice-President is not filled, which authority is legally empowered to seize the Constitutional Council?”
Meanwhile, the President remains discreet. The country moves forward blindly. And the Constitution, supposed to guarantee continuity, offers more uncertainties than answers.
“Strong institutions are those that also know how to identify and clarify their possible areas of uncertainty,” concludes MENOUNGA.
In 2026, Cameroon discovers its own. And it is at the top.
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