“Done at Yaounde” from Geneva!.

The first financing accord is with the World Bank. It includes a €78.7 million loan and a $10 million grant for the Health Security Programme in West and Central Africa. 

The regional project covers Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, and Congo, with the aim of strengthening prevention and response capacities for health emergencies.

The second decree authorises the signing of three financing agreements with the Islamic Development Bank, IsDB, totalling €41.92 million. 

The money will be used to finance the Dja Integrated Rural Development Project, designed to support infrastructure development and economic activities in the region.

Through the new loans, the government says it intends to strengthen investments in public health and rural development, two areas considered priorities for growth and the well-being of the population.

In yet another indication that the Head of State is actively working in Geneva, he, on August 4, 2026, signed three decrees, making strategic reorganisation of the Ministry of Defence. 

The three decrees saw the promotion of five new Colonels, to the rank of Brigadiers General, as well as reshuffling some branches of the central and territorial commands. 

The leading figure in the promotion is Raymond Jean Charles Beko’o Abondo. Formerly a Colonel and commanding the Presidential Guard, the military official was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and maintained in the position. 

The military promotion was read at the CRTV 5p.m. news. What, however, raised eyebrows among commentators was the follow up story on the same newscast.

After reading the three decrees, the State-run broadcaster, reported on the interview by the Minister of Communication and Government Spokesman, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, granted Radio France Internationale, RFI, in which he stated that President Paul Biya was still abroad and will “return soon.”

It sparked questions: Why does a government media organ has to rely on a foreign organ to explain the President’s “shot stay” that tomorrow makes it two months?

How can a Head of State be working in Geneva and decrees he signs there are indicated “done in Yaounde”?

Why not indicate that the decrees are signed in Geneva and faxed or scanned and sent to Yaounde?

Better still, why not let the Prime Minister, Head of Government, to sign them, on the "very high instructions of the Head of State"?

Can the authenticity of the decrees not be questioned, based on the experience of the fake decree, appointing a Vice President?

The questions border on civic education, morality, transparency and the rule of law for being in Geneva and signing a document with the clause of “done in Yaounde”.

Some legal minds have questioned if a document involving international organisations like the World Bank can be considered valid, by another regime?

Even first year students of law are taught that “the place of signing documents is relevance within international agreements, denoting the jurisdiction governing interpretation and enforcement, stemming from the physical location, where signatures are affixed to a contract”. 

Lawyers agree that location establishes a primary nexus for legal proceedings, influencing choice of law clauses and dispute resolution mechanisms.

They say differing interpretations of contractual obligations can arise, base on jurisdictional nuances. 

Precise specification avoids ambiguity and potential challenges to enforceability across borders.

There is also the moral side of the bucolic coin, which is civic education. 

One commentator has asked: “What lessons do school children learn, when official decrees are labelled:"Done in Yaounde, while the next item in the same news bulletin confirms that the President is still abroad?”

The Guardian Post does not question where the President can work from. His current trip is not the first time he has been heard working from abroad.

He is known to have in 2015, ordered admission of disputed candidates into the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, IRIC, while he was outside the country.

But is being abroad and signing documents, indicating that he did so in Yaounde, not troubling issues of moral, civic and legal concerns? Does any law in the country say he cannot sign a decree while abroad and indicate the exact foreign location?

Will the text not be respected, if he indicated that the decrees are done in Geneva, where it is officially confirm he has been working from?

The Guardian Post understands that "Le Cameroun, c’est le Cameroun," which is an expression meaning that the country has its own unique, unpredictable, and resilient way of functioning.

On that controversial trend, there have been reports about the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, importing COVID-19 drugs made in India and rebranding them as “Made in Cameroon”.

The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, is even on record as saying: “Be careful, Cameroon is the only country that has a slippery ground during the dry season”.

Faced with daunting challenges, the most pressing being the succession issue, the soaring cost of living and mounting debts that are not convincingly reflected in infrastructural development, the phenomenon which psychologists call “groupthink”, should be replaced with transparency and open government in all State affairs, not secrecy and unanswered questions.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3870 of Thursday August 06, 2026