What do we do when a good becomes expired? How do we know a good has become expired? Why is it that all goods have an expired date written on it? Why do we change clothes and shoes often? President Paul Biya haven been in office since the 1960s is virtually an expired good to the Cameroons people. He is old ,lacks foresight, cannot reasonably lead the country anymore and has done virtually nothing for the Cameroons people as President. His health is failing and he lacks the stamina to lead. Let us have a look at Biya’s life span to ascertain our points.

Paul Biya born Paul Barthélemy Biya’a bi Mvondo, 13 February 1933, has been the President of the Cameroons since 6 November 1982. He was as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s where he served as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982. He then succeeded Ahidjo as President upon the latter’s surprise resignation in 1982 and consolidated power in a 1983–1984 power struggle with his predecessor.

Biya under pressure had no choice than to introduced multiparty politics in the early 1990s. He stole the people’s election in 1992 and till date he has succeeded in stealing the election by putting in place a well-crafted system with the hall mark being ELECAM.

Biya who was barred by a two-term limit in the 1996 Constitution from running for President went ahead in 2008 to change the constitution against the wishes of the people. This lead to violent protests in late February 2008 which claims lives. On 10 April 2008, the Biya’s National Assembly voted to change the Constitution to remove term limits.

Biya is a democratic dictator. He still retains clear authoritarian characteristics and has largely bucked the trend toward democracy in Africa since the 1990s. Under the constitution, Biya has sweeping executive and legislative powers. He even has considerable authority over the judiciary; the courts can only review a law’s constitutionality at his request. The RDPC continues to dominate the National Assembly, which does little more than approve his policies.

“Tyrants, the World’s 20 Worst Living Dictators”, by David Wallechinsky, ranked Biya with three others commonly in sub-Saharan Africa: Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, and King Mswati of Swaziland. He describes Cameroon’s electoral process in these terms: “Every few years, Biya stages an election to justify his continuing reign, but these elections have no credibility. In fact, Biya is credited with a creative innovation in the world of phony elections.

Biya most often ruled out of Cameroon. He regularly spends extended periods of time in Switzerland at the Hotel InterContinental Geneva where the former director Herbert Schott reportedly said he comes to work without being disturbed. These extended stays away from Cameroon – while sometimes as short as two weeks – are sometimes as long as three months and are almost always referred to as “short stays” in the state-owned press and other media. He spends lavishly millions of tax payers money along with the heavy delegation.

Biya has impoverished the Cameroons people, unemployment is high, corruption is at the peak, the health system is a mess, infrastructure and basic good such as water, electricity is still largely lacking in the Cameroons. He silences the voice of his opposition, imprisons them. In fact, he is a silent democratic dictator

As we approached 2018, we must recognize the fact that Biya has been in power since the 1960s as a young career diplomat. The Cameroons has been very good to him. He has virtually lived a satisfied life. Biya has not been able to give back to Cameroon what Cameroon has given him. He is an expired good because, from the statements above which are just a summary of who Biya has become, the Cameroons people do not need him anymore. He has had his fair share by living a satisfied life. His graduation from the politician sphere is overdue and he has to go. Cameroonians do not need expired good. They need fresh produce with good ideas to take the country ahead.

God is still saying something.