Paul Biya made a mockery of President Ahidjo family by appointing his daughter as the new President of the Board of Directors at the Yaounde Congress Hall. She was installed on Monday, July 4, 2016. The daughter Aminatou Ahidjo says she found a father in Paul Biya.

Accepting her appointment she says “This place was inaugurated by H.E. Amadou Ahidjo, my father, on 12 May 1982. I come back and I was appointed by H.E. Paul Biya, I am very moved,” she said.

Speaking to CRTV after her installation, Aminatou Ahidjo who is a fervent militant of the CPDM (Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement) since 6 September 2013, reveals the challenges ahead in her new position, and the relationship she has with Paul Biya, and ridicule raised after her commitment to the CPDM and her appointment.

Below is an excerpt of what she says:

Appointment to the Congress Hall

When my appointment was released, I took full measure. I know that the task ahead is big and heavy, but to serve my country is so exhilarating that I still do not see what could make me anxious. I will fulfill my mission with energy, with courage, with determination, and with great humility. I think I can.

The conference hall for a country that is going to emerge will become the Palace of Culture. Everything converges to the Congress Hall. It must be the showcase of Cameroon like other Congress Halls in other countries. And we must come to this Hall which has to see events and be a center of events. This is a great site, and Cameroonians will find a promising project.

Decree of the President of the Republic

We do not always expect a decree. I was not consulted. We trust the Chief, everything has its own time, and he alone knows when to call you, if he calls you.

Thanks to Paul Biya

When I reached out to H.E. Paul Biya, he accepted my outstretched hand, he trusted me to campaign for parliamentary and municipal elections of 2013. This confidence has never been denied. It is a high mark of confidence by appointing me to the head of the Congress Hall. The only thing I can say is to thank you so much, Mr. president. Really it’s so beautiful, what the President did.

Relationship with President Paul Biya

This is the relationship of a daughter to her father. I said when I started the campaign everything was bringing me to this man. I was a child, I found a father. The father is still there. When we reach out after many years of absence and when the Head of State accepted that I returned to Cameroon, the child had found the father. The child does not have to see his father every day. But we know that the father is there, we know that the father looks after us. And if he was not watching over me, maybe I would not be here today.

Engagement in the CPDM and taunts of opinion

I think we should accept any servitude. And I think that we are neither slaves to anything nor anyone. Neither the memory nor history. My freedom is intellectual first, and it forces me to build my responsibility. It is true that I am carrying a heritage that makes things difficult and bright things. But I make my way. The bright things outweigh the difficult things. The proof, I’m here.

BaretaNews Statement:

While it is good to reconcile and forgive, BaretaNews thinks it must be done wholly and not as a means of favoritism. President Paul Biya forced Ahidjo into exile. He died in exile and till date, the first President, and father of La Republique independence remains in exile. The state has not for once commemorated the life and achievements of the former President. Even during the so-called 50 years celebration of Cameroons independence, President Biya who was not even close to the architect of independence was glorified throughout the process. The real architect of independence in the persons of Ahidjo, Foncha and the Um Nyobe’s were left out. Nothing about them was said. Biya has done nothing to showcase the life and history of the first President. Ahidjo’s daughter before dining with the regime at least needed the memories of her father to be rested in his own country. Her father’s remains still lie in a foreign land and here she is insinuating that she found a father in Paul Biya. President Ahidjo should be weeping and ashamed of his daughter.

God is still saying something.

Part of the text culled from KmerSaga blog.