New reports from late june 2026 indicate that after Franck, another ‘son’ of the president has been quietly building his network and preparing for years to succeed his father.
Louis Paul Motaze is the cousin of Franck Biya, the adopted son of the president of the republic. According to analyst Albin Njilo, Motaze ‘is benefiting from the sudden change of heart’ among elites from the southern region, who apparently conveyed to the head of state that they were not in favour of Franck Biya’s candidacy. ‘Everyone knows the weight of the southern elites in Cameroon’s public administration,’ Njilo explains.
Former Director General of the CNPS, then Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development after the adjustments, and later Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic and Minister of Finance, Motaze is described by many observers as the most powerful man after President Paul Biya in terms of network.
Batoufam
‘He controls the press — name a single media outlet that criticises him — he controls television media and is deeply connected to business circles across all regions, especially the West. His relationships with traditional chiefs in the West are strategic. Among his key allies is the very charismatic Nayang Toukam Innocent, whose leadership allowed him to host meetings of African traditional chiefs on his own soil; he regularly receives sectoral meetings of the governor of the Western region. Louis Paul Motaze personally met him at the royal palace of Batoufam five years ago, accompanied by a delegation that included the businessman and owner of Biopharma. That chief turned Batoufam into the world’s 20th ecotourism destination according to the International Organisation of Social Tourism,’ analyses Njilo.
A true strategist, these revelations come as no surprise: ‘He knew to distance himself from businessman Amougou Belinga after the scandal linked to the murder of Martinez Zogo. The great thing said about him is that he is not tribalistic, even in his inner circle. The only question remains his record since 2007, when he entered the cockpit of the Cameroon aircraft through MINEPAT. Louis Paul Motaze thus faces his cousin Franck Biya, the protégé of the first lady Oswald Baboke, and Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh who, despite his merits, is very ungenerous, contrary to what Motaze’s entourage suggests. As for Franck Biya, he inspires a certain coldness among the youth of the South,’ concludes the journalist from Construire Ensemble.
