President Paul Biya, who was re-elected during the October 9, 2011 presidential election with a 77.9 per cent margin, will effectively take office in Yaounde today, November 3, 2011. The high point of the event that will usher Paul Biya into the new seven-year term of office, will be the swearing-in ceremony at the National Assembly in the presence of members of the National Assembly, Constitutional Council and the Supreme Court meeting in a solemn session. The next ritual at the Etoudi Presidential Palace at 1 pm will come when the Grand Chancellor of National Orders will award President Biya the insignia of Grand Master of the National Orders.
Section 101 of the legal framework applicable to the 2011 presidential election published by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, which also conforms to the law of September 17, 1992 laying down the conditions governing the vacancy of and election to the Presidency of the Republic, states that “The President-elect shall take office as soon as he takes the oath within a maximum period of 15 (fifteen) days following the proclamation of the results by the Constitutional Council.” Article Two of Section 101 of the law stipulates that, “He shall take the oath of office before the people of Cameroon in the presence of the Members of the National Assembly, the Senate, the Constitutional Council and the Supreme Court meeting in a solemn session.”
The National Assembly whose November 2011 ordinary session opened on Tuesday, November 1, 2011, is ready for the swearing-in ritual. The law provides that the President of the National Assembly shall administer the oath following a short address and shall conclude in the following established form: “Mr. President of the Republic, Do you pledge yourself on your honour to faithfully perform the duties entrusted to you by the people, and do you solemnly swear before God and all men to devote all your efforts to preserving, protecting and defending the constitution and the laws of the Republic of Cameroon, to watch over the commonwealth of the nation, and to uphold and defend the unity, integrity and independence of Cameroon?” The second part of the same Article specifies that, “The President-elect, standing, raising his right hand and facing the Members of the National Assembly, the Senate, the Constitutional Council and the Supreme Court, shall so pledge himself by answering, “I so do swear.”
After taking the oath of office, President Paul Biya will receive military honours, a 101-gun salute and at 2 pm at the Unity Palace receive the diplomatic corps and national dignitaries. The day will end with a buffet at State House offered by the Head of State, Paul Biya and Mrs Chantal Biya.
There is general mobilisation in the nation’s capital, Yaounde and throughout the country for President Biya’s swearing in. His next seven years in office or “The major accomplishments era” is a tenure during which he plans to transform his ambitions into success stories with the ultimate goal of making Cameroon an emerging country by 2035. There is much expectation as he announced during the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) third ordinary congress in September 2011 and reiterated in the address to the nation on October 25, 2011, that Cameroon will be transformed into a vast construction site beginning 2012, citing the effective start of major development projects.
