44 Years of Failure Under Biya… And Now They Turn to Prayer?

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:01]Three days before Cameroon's National Day, government officials walked into a cathedral in Yaounde, the capital.

[00:00:13]Not for a meeting, but for a mass of the nation.

[00:00:19]And the message was simple.

[00:00:23]Let us pray for the Cameroon we want.

[00:00:29]But here's the problem.

[00:00:31]After 44 years of the same regime, the Biya regime, can prayer fix what power has broken?

[00:00:47]Here is the scene on May 17th, 2026, inside the main basilica in Yaounde.

[00:00:53]You see ministers, state officials, front row.

[00:00:58]The mass led by Archbishop Jean Mbarga, a major religious figure, and not a politically neutral one.

[00:01:08]And the timing, not accidental.

[00:01:12]This happens just days before May 20th, Cameroon's National Day.

[00:01:18]Now, understand this.

[00:01:21]May 20th is not Independence Day.

[00:01:26]It marks 1972, when Cameroon abolished federalism and became a centralized state.

[00:01:37]That same centralized system is what Paul Biya has controlled since 1982.

[00:01:47]So, no.

[00:01:48]This is not just religion.

[00:01:51]This is politics in a robe.

[00:01:55]Here's a core question.

[00:01:58]Let's remain fair, straightforward, and honest.

[00:02:01]If prayer could fix governance, Cameroon would be thriving by now.

[00:02:09]Because for decades, the system has prayed, celebrated, marched, and promised.

[00:02:20]So, what changed?

[00:02:23]44 years.

[00:02:26]Paul Biya for over four decades in power.

[00:02:31]That is not stability.

[00:02:34]That is stagnation.

[00:02:36]You see the same patterns.

[00:02:39]Corruption, a locked political system, a press under pressure, and the same faces year after year after year.

[00:02:54]Meanwhile, more than half the population struggles with poverty.

[00:03:02]And the young people, they are either hustling to survive, or planning how to leave the country.

[00:03:12]And yet, every year, you hear the same words.

[00:03:18]Unity, development, emergency.

[00:03:24]At some point, those words stop meaning anything.

[00:03:31]And to illustrate, I take you to the Anglophone crisis.

[00:03:35]Let's talk about what doesn't make it into the cathedral speeches.

[00:03:40]Because since 2016, at the peak of it, Cameroon has been at war with itself in the Anglophone regions.

[00:03:51]What started as a peaceful protest became a violent conflict and then full-blown war.

[00:03:59]Thousands dead, hundreds of thousands displaced both within and outside Cameroon.

[00:04:04]Children out of school for years.

[00:04:09]And yet on May 20th the country will celebrate unity.

[00:04:18]That's not unity.

[00:04:20]That's a narrative.

[00:04:24]And beyond that, let's look at the church and power.

[00:04:28]Let's talk about the church because this matters. And in this case, the Catholic Church is taking that front row. Archbishop Jean Mbarga is not just a spiritual leader.

[00:04:39]He's widely seen as aligned with the political establishment.

[00:04:46]And that changes everything.

[00:04:49]Because the church carries moral authority.

[00:04:55]So when it hosts a mass of the nation with politicians in the front row but avoids naming corruption avoids naming repression avoids naming war, the same things even the Pope admits then something is off.

[00:05:18]Faith is supposed to challenge power not decorate it.

[00:05:24]And let's look at prayer versus policy.

[00:05:27]That matters.

[00:05:28]Let's make it very simple.

[00:05:31]You cannot pray away bad roads unpaid salaries corruption in hospitals a broken education system.

[00:05:43]You want to talk about electricity? What do you want to talk about?

[00:05:47]You cannot fast your way out of bad governance.

[00:05:52]You cannot sing loud enough to silence gunfire.

[00:05:59]Prayer has its place.

[00:06:02]It gives people hope.

[00:06:05]But it cannot replace policy.

[00:06:08]It cannot replace accountability.

[00:06:13]And it cannot certainly replace leadership.

[00:06:18]Let's look beyond the mass. Step outside that cathedral.

[00:06:25]Talk to people.

[00:06:27]The taxi driver will tell you, "I need better roads, not prayers from ministers. The price of gas is too high."

[00:06:37]The teacher will tell you, "I need security and my salary."

[00:06:42]The young graduates will tell you, "I just need a chance." We see PhD holders frying beignets and haricot.

[00:06:50]That's the real Cameroon people I'm not talking about.

[00:06:54]Not slogans. Not ceremonies.

[00:06:57]Not themes.

[00:07:01]So here again, we ask the very simple question.

[00:07:05]This is where we are.

[00:07:09]A government still asking for prayers for problems it had decades to solve after 44 years plus of the same regime.

[00:07:22]And so now the question changes.

[00:07:25]It's no longer spiritual.

[00:07:28]It's political.

[00:07:31]And they are praying for the country.

[00:07:34]No.

[00:07:36]They are praying to stay in power.

[00:07:41]That is a key nuance.

[00:07:45]Let me know what you think.

[00:07:48]You've seen the images.

[00:07:51]It's obvious.