Babel of voices

Babel of voices President Biya’s prolonged absence provokes varying reactions from regime barons, constitutional debate By Norbert Wasso with Agency reports More than 50 days after President Paul Biya left Cameroon for what the presidency described as a "short private stay in Europe," the political debate has evolved into a constitutional dispute over the legal framework governing the office of the head of state. The controversy intensified after Grégoire Owona, Cameroon’s labour minister and deputy secretary-general of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM), argued that the president could legally take up to 80 days of annual leave. His comments…