BaretaNews had earlier reported how French President, Emmanual Macron who up to this date has failed to do the traditional customary phone call to Biya and African Presidents after their election win, nicodemously sent a private letter to the Cameroun Presidency, a letter which focused more on calling Biya to resolve the Cameroons conflict rather than congratulating him. Biya in trying to show his Camerounese base that France has congratulated him leaked the said document out. Due to the social media frenzy, insisting that it was fake, CheckNews, which is the fact-checking service of French daily Libération, contacted the French president’s office to find out the truth of the matter. The Élysée confirmed that this letter is indeed authentic, but that it was never meant to be shared publicly.

Contacted by the France 24 Observers to find out why Biya’s official Facebook page decided to publish the letter, Cameroon’s communications minister, Issa Tchrioma responded, “This is an eminently diplomatic question, which falls under the exclusive remit of the president of the Republic”, and that he had no comment.

However, he added, “The fact that the Élysée confirmed the authenticity of the letter was a perfect response to the president’s detractors, who claimed that this letter was fake”.

The letter’s late date and the Élysée’s intent for it to stay private may be explained by the French government’s unease with Biya’s handling of the crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, as the French radio station RFI noted following the announcement of the official election results.

In response to the results, the French government initially published a statement from its foreign affairs ministry on October 23. Macron did not make the customary congratulatory phone call to Biya, either.

The letter in question was sent three days after the results were announced