00:00In the years of 1960.
00:10Cameron's presidential election is set for October 12th and President Paul Beer,
00:15who has been in power since 1982, says he will seek another term.
00:19He says that Staying On is about ensuring the security and well-being of Cameranians,
00:31a sacred duty to which he has devoted time and energy.
00:35Others, however, argue that the Central African country is not a monarchy
00:39and deserves more than a recycled leader with empty promises.
00:43So in a country where citizens are desperate for a change,
00:46how is it possible for a 92-year-old to retain power for so long,
00:51even ranking as the world's oldest president?
00:54Welcome to The Flipside.
00:57If Beer wins another seven-year term in office, he could serve until he's almost 100.
01:04Supporters argue that his experience is unmatched.
01:07In a country battling separatist insurgencies and economic uncertainty,
01:12the CBA asks the safest pair of hands.
01:14We think that the longer you stay, the longer you work, the more experienced you are
01:19and you can be able to govern the country.
01:22Cameroon is such a complicated, complex environment.
01:27So many ethnic groups, so many political parties, so many religions and so on.
01:32You need somebody who has experience to be able to govern.
01:36But in reality, there are so many Cameroonians who say they want a new leader.
01:41Since I was born, I've known just one president who has been there for more than 40 years.
01:45I would love to see at least three or four different presidents, just like the United States and also the case of Senegal,
01:55where you have a young man ruling the nation.
01:57Someone like that should be somewhere resting, not ruling the country again.
02:02So we need new ideas, new people to come to bring new ideas to develop the country.
02:08Why can't he leave a younger person to take over?
02:11We need young people in our country, people who are so energetic, that can do a lot of things.
02:15Because right now he's already very old, like the age of 92 years, why is he doing in power?
02:20The problem is that the system in Cameroon makes that nearly impossible.
02:24In 2008, Bia scrapped presidential term limits, clearing the way for him to run indefinitely.
02:31And what about the Electoral Commission?
02:32Well, it reports directly to the president, not the parliament.
02:36So under Cameroonian law, Bia's candidacy is legal.
02:40And every election ends the same way.
02:43Bia wins, often with landslide margins of 70% or more.
02:48But how does that even happen?
02:50You go to vote, like the past election, when you go to vote, you realize that at times you look at your name,
02:55you find that it has been ticked that you already voted.
02:58I decided not to register because I looked at the past statistics of the previous votings
03:05and I came across information that Paul Bia has always been the one winning.
03:11So there's no point of me trying to register because I know at the end of the day he's still going to win.
03:17Then there is a question of fitness for office.
03:19Bia is rarely seen in public, often spending months abroad for medical care.
03:24Why has Inaxerko runs the country?
03:26The system has been rigged.
03:30The system has been frauded.
03:33And it is now even very difficult for ELECAM, Elections Cameroon, to publish a national electoral register.
03:43The board chairman of ELECAM, that's the election organizing body of Cameroon, is appointed by President Paul Bia.
03:52All the board members appointed by President Paul Bia and all of them were former members of his ruling CPD Empire team, Amigul.
04:01For context, when Bia took over from Cameroon's first president, Amadou Ahijou, he was seen as a modernizer who would usher in political reforms.
04:10Instead, he consolidated power through constitutional changes, patronage networks, and security forces loyal to him.
04:18So decades ago, Bia turned Cameroon to a de facto one-party state, despite the introduction of multi-party politics in the 1990s.
04:28Opposition parties and politicians face harassment.
04:31The media is restricted and elections feature irregularities.
04:36Bia's ruling party says this election will be free and fair.
04:40But where is the democracy when presidential term limits are gone?
04:44And your position is wicked and power deeply centralized.
04:48And that's the flip side.
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