Cameroon's President Paul Biya (78), in power since 1982, was re-elected by 77% of the electorate on October 9. He is routinely compared to other long-serving African autocrats including Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea.

Married to a woman 38 years his junior, Biya spends "working holidays" of up to three months in Geneva. In February 2008, when the country's constitution was amended to scrap term limits, taxi drivers started a revolt in which 200 people died.

The Mail & Guardian spoke to Achille Mbembe, a Cameroonian political theorist and historian based at Stellenbosch University, about what drives African autocrats like Biya and why they survive so long.

Were the elections free and fair?
In the present circumstances, the possibility of free and fair elections in Cameroon is quasi-nil. There is no independent institution in charge of administering elections. Elecam, which stands for such an institution, is controlled by the ruling party and most of its members are known to belong to that political formation. The entire state apparatus, from the bureaucracy to the police, the military and the official media, is mobilised to campaign for the incumbent. Even to talk about "elections" under such conditions is simply farcical.

Three decades at the helm and they continue re-electing him. And he does not seem to have campaigned much. Cameroonians must love him.
He firmly holds them by the balls. He has understood that, in order to stay in power, he needs to do nothing at all. He has invented a style of rule we should call "government by inaction", a form of spectral government that doesn't even require him to be in his country for long periods.

In fact, he spends much of his time either in the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva or in his village. He hardly ever holds a Cabinet meeting. He doesn't even seem to recognise some of the Cabinet members he himself has appointed.

If ordinary Cameroonians are tired of his leadership, how will change come?
It won't be the result of peaceful elections. Many citizens are disillusioned and are fast coming to the realisation that for change to happen might require a modicum of violence. The problem is that the social forces capable of organising such a violent revolt are missing.

Some opposition figures seem to be in bed with the government. Is there an opposition or a vibrant civil society?

The opposition is not only frag­mented, it's short of money and imagination. Corruption and venality are rife. Civil society is emasculated. Most people are struggling for daily survival. They are told -- including by the churches -- that peace at all costs is better than the quest for justice, freedom and dignity.

Wbong:

Cameroon's President Paul Biya (78), in power since 1982, was re-elected by 77% of the electorate on October 9. He is routinely compared to other long-serving African autocrats including Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea.

Married to a woman 38 years his junior, Biya spends "working holidays" of up to three months in Geneva. In February 2008, when the country's constitution was amended to scrap term limits, taxi drivers started a revolt in which 200 people died.

The Mail & Guardian spoke to Achille Mbembe, a Cameroonian political theorist and historian based at Stellenbosch University, about what drives African autocrats like Biya and why they survive so long.

Were the elections free and fair?
In the present circumstances, the possibility of free and fair elections in Cameroon is quasi-nil. There is no independent institution in charge of administering elections. Elecam, which stands for such an institution, is controlled by the ruling party and most of its members are known to belong to that political formation. The entire state apparatus, from the bureaucracy to the police, the military and the official media, is mobilised to campaign for the incumbent. Even to talk about "elections" under such conditions is simply farcical.

Three decades at the helm and they continue re-electing him. And he does not seem to have campaigned much. Cameroonians must love him.
He firmly holds them by the balls. He has understood that, in order to stay in power, he needs to do nothing at all. He has invented a style of rule we should call "government by inaction", a form of spectral government that doesn't even require him to be in his country for long periods.

In fact, he spends much of his time either in the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva or in his village. He hardly ever holds a Cabinet meeting. He doesn't even seem to recognise some of the Cabinet members he himself has appointed.

If ordinary Cameroonians are tired of his leadership, how will change come?
It won't be the result of peaceful elections. Many citizens are disillusioned and are fast coming to the realisation that for change to happen might require a modicum of violence. The problem is that the social forces capable of organising such a violent revolt are missing.

Some opposition figures seem to be in bed with the government. Is there an opposition or a vibrant civil society?

The opposition is not only frag­mented, it's short of money and imagination. Corruption and venality are rife. Civil society is emasculated. Most people are struggling for daily survival. They are told -- including by the churches -- that peace at all costs is better than the quest for justice, freedom and dignity.

Biya is an absolute tragedy! Hes 10 years older than Gaddaffi! He is going to turn Cameroon into another Libya.  The difference is he has not got 1% of Gaddaffis courage he will just leave with hundreds of Millions of Dollars and spend the rest of his life living in luxury in Geneva