THE INTERNATIONALLY LAMPOONED BIYA VACATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000786 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2019 TAGS: CM FR PGOV PREL SUBJECT: THE INTERNATIONALLY LAMPOONED BIYA VACATION REF: YAOUNDE 724 Classified By: PolOff Erik Martini for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) President Paul Biya's recently completed expensive vacation to France drew criticism and an extended media battle in Europe and Cameroon. Rather than refute the allegations and let the story die, the GRC lashed out with tit-for-tat planted stories and accusations of an unpatriotic press. The episode reinforces the image of President Biya as corrupt and out of touch with his people, and highlights the government,s disturbing tendency to associate press criticism with instability and disloyalty. End summary. The French Press Breaks the Story -------------- ¶2. (U) President Paul Biya observed the traditional vacation month of August by spending three weeks at the trendy French Atlantic seaside resort of La Baule. Beginning on August 28, three French media outlets, Radio France Inter, Radio Fidelite Nantes, and Ouest France reported that President Biya and his entourage had booked 43 rooms in two luxury hotels for 20 days at approximately $60,000 a night for a total expense of $1.2 million. Online journals, such as afrik.com, piled on, pointing out the price tag didn,t include the chartered jet, shopping, spa sessions, and casino nights. The story became front page news in several local Cameroonian print papers. Coverage was almost wholly negative, pointing out Cameroon's recent status as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country and resurrecting a recent accusation by a Catholic NGO that Biya has ill-gotten wealth stashed in France. The CPDM Doth Protest Too Much -------------- ¶3. (SBU) After the story broke in France and Cameroon, a response appeared in "La Baule " a French free monthly paper with a reported circulation of about 40,000. The editor, Yannick Urrien, compared the journalists breaking the story to prostitutes, questioned the accuracy of the story, and claimed Biya's vacation was within his right as a head of state. The government-controlled Cameroon Tribune followed with articles placed by the Communications Secretary of the ruling Cameroon People,s Democratic Movement (CPDM) Jacques Fame Ndongo, Deputy Secretary General of the CPDM and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Gregoire Owona, and Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary. Ndongo compared the story to the pointless medieval debate on the sex of angels and glowingly defended Biya, claiming he worked while on vacation. The Communications Minister triumphantly highlighted Biya's defense in Urrien's paper and said Biya had a right to his vacation. Tchiroma also said the French press was destabilizing and manipulating the Cameroonian public. Another Tribune article, entitled "Sovereignty," accused journalists of being unpatriotic and stated that such foreign interference would destabilize Cameroon. The Story Stays Alive -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The government and private press have continued to trade stories since August 29. A diaspora group called the "Cameroonian Association of the Loire Atlantique" (L'Amicale des Camerounais du Departement de la Loire-Atlantique) published on September 7 an exhaustive defense of Biya's vacation in the Tribune, comparing it to President Obama's vacation at Martha's Vineyard. In response, a story from September 10 in the independent Cameroonian paper La Nouvelle Expression stated that President Obama paid for his vacation out of his own pocket, spent only one week, and stayed in his own country. Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) President Biya has been criticized in the past for spending significant time out of the country; in the past two months, he has taken a trip to Geneva and two trips to France (though one was an official visit). The current scandal has taken on a new tone by focusing on the expense rather than Biya's absence. The GRC's panicked response, including ham-fisted efforts to plant articles from French "media" and the Cameroonian diaspora, allowed the story to continue well past Biya's return to Cameroon and demonstrates the regime's tendency to react more forcefully to external criticism. The Biya regime has never clarified the exact cost of the trip, YAOUNDE 00000786 002 OF 002 only noting parenthetically that five people accompanied Biya, plus security personnel. If true, Biya,s $60,000 per day stay in France at the expense of the Cameroonian people is appalling, given the corruption, poverty, and growing economic problems he left at home (Ref). Just as worrisome is the penchant for the government, especially the Communications Minister, to equate opposition and criticism with destabilization and a lack of patriotism. End Comment. ¶6. (U) This message was cleared with Embassy Paris POL Section. GARVEY