CAMEROON'S RULING PARTY SHUFFLED; DIFFERENT SUITS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L YAOUNDE 000446 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR AF/C LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS EUCOM FOR J5-A AFRICA DIVISION AND POLAD YATES E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL KCOR CM PINR SUBJECT: CAMEROON'S RULING PARTY SHUFFLED; DIFFERENT SUITS, SAME HAND REF: YAOUNDE 442 Classified By: Political Officer Tad Brown for reasons 1.4 b and d. MARKED PARAGRAPHS ARE SENSTIVIE BUT UNCLASSIFIED (SBU). NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE USG CHANNELS. -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) President Paul Biya's April 4 shuffle of CPDM Party leadership amounted to internal housekeeping triggered by the need to replace an ailing senior leader and to shore up CPDM support among some constituencies in the run-up to legislative and municipal elections later this year. Changes in CPDM leadership inevitably spark public speculation as observers seek to discern Biya's motives and favored candidates for succession, but the driving motive behind the shuffle appears to be Biya's determination to maintain the status quo, at least until the mid-year elections. End summary. -------------- Shuffle off to... -------------- ¶2. (SBU) An April 4 Presidential Decree announced a slate of changes at the leadership of the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) party. Joseph Charles Doumba, the outgoing Secretary General of the CPDM's Central Committee who had grown so ill that he was reportedly unable to function in public, was named the Ambassador-at-Large at the Presidency, a position created for him. The new Secretary General, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, is also a longtime Presidency insider, having served most recently as the Deputy Secretary General at the Presidency in charge of Diplomatic Affairs, a position he will continue to hold. ¶3. (SBU) Gregoire Owona, the previous Deputy Secretary General at the CPDM and who serves concurrently as the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of Relations with the Parliament, will retain his position. A second Deputy Secretary General position, newly created by the decree, will be filled by Hamadjodja Adjoudji, who was previously the CPDM's Deputy Treasurer and was recently appointed to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC, reftel). Former Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge was appointed Grand Chancellor of the National Orders, a Cameroonian appropriation of the French system for allocating honorary titles and ranks to those who serve the state. By bringing Musonge out of retirement, Biya strengthens the CPDM in Musonge's native South West Province, an Anglophone area of relative weakness for the CPDM. -------------- Comment: Plus Ca Change... -------------- ¶4. (C) Even in a country accustomed to centralized secretive deliberative processes, CPDM personnel decisions SIPDIS are understood as President Biya's exclusive personal prerogative. Some observers in the media pointed out that Biya did not appoint any officials believed to be in the G11, a wing of the CPDM focused on the post-Biya era. But even in a country used to hidden messages, Biya's intentions are notoriously difficult to discern. We do not yet know if there are some surprise agents of change in the new party leadership, but the clear message appears to be that Cameroon can expect more of the same, at least until after the parliamentary elections. End comment. MARQUARDT