All dressed in the CPDM attire, Cameroonians in Senegal danced along major roads of Dakar as the limousine carrying President Paul Biya and Wife drove past.

From the Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, passing through the Alamadies Street to the King Fahd Palace, which hosted Cameroon’s First Couple during their stay in the legendary land of Teranga, more commonly known as Senegal, Cameroonians living in Dakar and beyond, danced along major roads to salute the passing of President Paul Biya and Wife, Chantal Biya as they arrived Senegal for the 15^th La Francophonie Summit.

The enthusiasm and dancing styles of the crowd intensified when the motorcade bearing in its stead the Presidential Couple of Cameroon serenaded its way through the precinct of Dakar into the plush quarters of King Fahd Palace on Friday, November 28, 2014. Judging from the intensity of the turnout from the local Cameroonian community in Dakar and peripheral towns such as Mbour, Pikine, Liberte V and Vi, Grand Dakar, Dakar Yoft and Zinguinchor in the South of Senegal, even the most unschooled onlookers could quickly tell that there was more than just excitement in the air.

The entrance to King Fahd Palace was transformed into a Cameroon cultural jamboree site. According to a CPDM leader in Senegal, Jérome Belinga, some 300 Cameroonians, mostly militants of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Party (CPDM), all dressed in the party ceremonial dress as well as T-shirts which carried the effigies of Cameroon’s First Couple and that of President Paul Biya and his Senegalese counterpart, President Macky Sall, had come to welcome their President and Wife. As the crowd awaited the arrival of Paul and Chantal Biya, they thrilled on-lookers with traditional drumbeats from all the 10 regions of the country.

As the crowd danced and sang songs of gratitude to their First Couple, they waved the flag of the country as well as messages which did not only wish the First Couple a warm stay in Senegal, but also of gratitude to President Paul Biya, for not only creating the first ever CPDM section in West Africa, but also his firm commitment to curb Boko Haram attacks. Jerome Belinga said the hectic welcome given to their party president and wife could not have been possible without the proper coordination of Cameroon’s Ambassador to Senegal, Mali, Mauritania and the Gambia, Jean Koe Ntonga.