Rolex-loving daughter defies Cameroon’s aged leader on TikTok

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By Jessica Donati

DAKAR (Reuters) -Cameroon’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya faces an unexpected challenge as he runs for an eighth term in office: a viral TikTok video by his daughter Brenda Biya saying she will not vote for him.

Previously known for posting images of herself posing on top of a Rolls-Royce, flashing a diamond-studded Rolex or boarding a private jet, the 27-year-old stunned the nation with her defiant message in the run-up to the October 12 vote.

“Do not vote for Paul Biya, not because of me, but because he has made too many people suffer,” she said, looking deeply into the camera in an oversized hoodie and pink-tinted hair. 

“I hope we will have another president,” she added, saying she was renouncing her family and their financial support. 

In power for 42 years, Biya has presided over economic stagnation and political repression in his nation of 30 million people. Transparency International lists his government as one of the most corrupt in the world.

The average Cameroonian lives on less than $5 a day, World Bank data shows, while GDP per capita is lower than it was at its peak in 1986.

Clashes between troops and armed separatists in Cameroon’s Anglophone region have killed over 6,500 people since 2017 but received little attention abroad.

DAUGHTER UNLIKELY TO CHANGE CAMEROON ELECTION OUTCOME

Brenda Biya has benefited from her father’s rule. 

She attended a prestigious high school in Switzerland and studied in California, where she posted about paying $400 for one-way trips to class in luxury cars.

Her mid-September video on TikTok has been viewed by millions and was replayed by local news networks across West Africa, but is unlikely to sway the outcome given her father’s enduring grip.

Another victory as expected for Paul Biya would extend his mandate until he is almost 100 years old. He has not named a potential successor, though local media speculate his son Franck is being groomed for the role.

“The more corrupt a country is, the more difficult it is to change the regime,” said Muna Akera, a former official at Transparency International now part of a coalition seeking to unseat Biya.

“The infrastructure is in bad shape. The roads are in bad shape. Yaounde looks like an open air dustbin with rubbish everywhere,” he told Reuters. 

Paul Biya has not responded to his daughter’s video and his office did not answer a request for comment. Brenda Biya, speaking through her U.S. lawyer Emmanuel Nsahlai, declined to discuss the election.

Paul Biya has previously said his office takes the fight against corruption seriously, introducing new measures to improve governance last year. He says boosting economic development is a key priority for his campaign.

 The U.N. has warned that arrests and threats targeting civil society and political opponents meant the election was unlikely to be free and fair. Paul Biya’s main political rival, Maurice Kamto, was disqualified by the electoral commission in July.

BRENDA BIYA HAD ALREADY SHOWN DEFIANCE OVER HOMOSEXUALITY

Brenda Biya quickly deleted her viral post, but it was too late to stop its spread.

She has since issued an apology video, calling her father a great man and urging followers to form their own opinions, but without saying she would vote for him. She appeared to be reading from a document reflected in huge sunglasses that hid much of her face.

Viewers joked that her father had cut off her allowance, or that she spoke under duress. “Take off your glasses if you’re in danger” and “blink twice” were among the reactions.

The original video was her second public act of defiance after she came out as lesbian last year by posting an intimate photo of herself with a Brazilian model. In Cameroon, homosexuality is punishable by up to five years in jail.

“It was really a blessing for the LGBT community, the best way to give her father a slap in the face,” said Shaqiro, a transgender woman and social media influencer who was arrested for homosexuality in Cameroon in 2021.

Shaqiro, who fled Cameroon while on bail and now lives in Brussels, struck up an online friendship with Biya after she came out.

“For me, God is paying Paul Biya back by giving him a very stubborn child,” she said.

SWISS TRIAL REVEALS CAREER CHANGES, LIFE IN FIVE-STAR HOTEL

Details of Brenda Biya’s life emerged from a trial in Switzerland this year in which she was convicted of defaming an online influencer.

She told the court she had made no money from business ventures including a hair company in Beverly Hills and a hotel in Yaoundé, but was supported by her parents.

The trial revealed that she had Swiss residency and appeared to live at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva where rooms are booked for her all year round. The hotel did not respond to a request for comment. 

In 2017, the OCCRP, a global network of investigative journalists, reported that the Biya family had spent about $65 million on luxury hotel stays in Switzerland since coming to power in 1982.       

(Additional reporting by Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Editing by Estelle Shirbon and Andrew Cawthorne)