Dakar — Cameroon’s octogenarian President Paul Biya, who has ruled the country with an iron grip for decades, held his first cabinet meeting since 2015 on Thursday. A brief letter calling his council of ministers to the Unity Palace did not reveal the agenda. Prime minister Philemon Yang read out a statement afterwards on state TV, saying Biya had insisted that they "continue working". There was no explanation as to why he had called the session and no other officials were permitted to speak about what went on in the conclave. The president had told his cabinet that "the best way to serve the country is to do everything, to make all the sacrifices that are needed", the prime minister said. "There are a lot of things to do," Biya had added, singling out the Africa Cup of Nations annual soccer tournament that Cameroon is to host next year, and the presidential election in October this year. Minutes are never published, but if past cabinet meetings — often two or three years apart — ar...
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