The French Lesson in Authoritarianism: From De Gaulle to Biya – and the Bite Too Big to Swallow

Paul Biya inherited and refined this system. He polished it into a monopoly, boasting: “I have the Assembly. I have the Senate. I have the State.” In truth, he presided over an empty empire built on oppression and silence.

By The Independentist Editorial Desk

The French Recipe for Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism in Cameroon is not a local invention. It is a French specialty — cooked in Paris, plated in Yaoundé, and force-fed to a people who never ordered it.

When Charles de Gaulle founded the Fifth Republic in 1958, he did not build a democracy. He built a throne. France never learned the art of coalition, never embraced federalism, never respected compromise. Where others built systems of negotiation, France built presidential monarchies.

In the French imagination, power is never shared; it is devoured. François Mitterrand admitted it with royal arrogance: “I have the Parliament, and I have the Senate. Therefore, I have everything.” The legislature was palace furniture, not a counterweight.

Cameroon: From Federation to Corporation

Ahmadou Ahidjo became Paris’s most obedient pupil.

In 1961, the federation promised to Southern Cameroons was strangled in its crib.

In 1972, a sham referendum buried federalism under a unitary state, extending French reign to Southern Cameroons.

By mere paper agreement signed in December 1959, France began siphoning 50% of Ambazonian crude petroleum sales.

Ahidjo went further: he turned Cameroon into a corporation. Ministries became departments. Regions became branches. Citizens became clients. The president acted as CEO, answering not to the people but to a boardroom in Paris.

Paul Biya inherited and refined this system. He polished it into a monopoly, boasting: “I have the Assembly. I have the Senate. I have the State.” In truth, he presided over an empty empire built on oppression and silence.

And in his gluttony, Biya tried to absorb a foreign nation — Ambazonia. But Ambazonia, with its different colonial heritage, was too big to swallow. The glutton choked.

Françafrique: The Replicated Recipe

The model was not unique to Cameroon. Across Francophone Africa, it was faithfully replicated:

Gabon: the Bongo dynasty sat enthroned under French protection.

Congo-Brazzaville: Denis Sassou Nguesso perfected Paris-approved authoritarianism.

Côte d’Ivoire: Houphouët-Boigny warmed France’s seat.

Togo: Eyadéma ruled as tribal emperor wrapped in the tricolor.

Same script. Same model. Same disaster. Welcome to Françafrique.

Arrogance Without Victory

France cannot negotiate because it has never stood victorious alone.

1759: expelled from North America by Britain.

1803: sold Louisiana (four times bigger than France) to the U.S., then lost Haiti to enslaved Africans by December of the same year.

1954: chased out of Southeast Asia by Vietnam.

1962: sent packing by Algerian resistance.

Always defeated, never victorious alone. Others negotiated for France — the Allies in 1945 with massive African contributions, or Africa itself through resource tribute.

But the game is over. France must now learn negotiation at home, in its own Parliament. And perhaps, just perhaps, La République du Cameroun will one day learn that nations are not governed by decrees but by dialogue.

The Authoritarian Reflex in Europe

This French reflex for domination extended into Europe.

When Britain sought entry into the European Economic Community, de Gaulle vetoed them twice.

France could not imagine power-sharing. That arrogance helped plant the seeds of Brexit.

Even Britain — with centuries of parliamentary tradition — could not tolerate the suffocating French model. Why then should Ambazonians accept Biya’s French-made dictatorship?

If London had the right to leave Brussels, Ambazonia has every right to leave Yaoundé.

Macron: The Fake Obama, The Naked King

After Obama’s rise, France wanted its own savior. Emmanuel Macron was dressed up as the “French Obama”: young, polished, cosmopolitan.

But behind the glow: nothing. Poor at negotiation, allergic to consensus, addicted to Jupiterian theatrics. Style without substance. Today Macron stands exposed as a roi nu — a naked king presiding over decline.

A World Gone Street Smart

French authoritarianism — in Paris, Yaoundé, Libreville, Abidjan, Lomé, Brazzaville — mistook domination for governance, control for creativity.

But the illusion is over. Citizens are now street smart. They see through rulers who claim to own parliaments and senates but deliver only misery.

France’s global influence is slipping — not because its army is weak, but because its political model has lost legitimacy. Cameroon collapses for the same reason.

Ahidjo and Biya copied faithfully. So did Bongo, Sassou Nguesso, Houphouët-Boigny, Eyadéma. They all swallowed the French recipe. But the dish was poisoned.

Biya, in his greed, tried to swallow Ambazonia — and history caught him choking.

The empire of illusions is ending. Ambazonia will write its own story.

The Independentist Editorial Desk