The 2020 New Year Wishes to Cameroon’s First Lady, Mrs. Chantal Biya on January 10, 2020 enters the annals of history for major innovations.  For the first time, a short speech was made in an event that had hitherto been speechless though full of symbolic messages.

Mrs Annie  Biffot, the wife of the Ambassador  of Gabon to Cameroon who is the dean of the diplomatic  corps led the first  delegation  whose members shook hands with, hugged, exchanged  civilities and took memorable  pictures  with First  Lady  Chantal  Biya.  The news came after the handshakes as Annie Biffot presented a short speech in which she lauded the humanitarian works of Mrs Chantal Biya through the various structures she created. She harped on the impact of the actions to the entire Cameroonian community and pledged the continuous collaboration   of the diplomatic corps.  After the short speech, the First Lady had a convivial sharing with the spouses of members of the diplomatic corps and offered each of them a souvenir New Year gift.

After the wives of members of the diplomatic corps then came the 27 delegations of wives of national dignitaries, special guests of the First Lady and other personalities. The wife of Senator Tabe Tando, Vice President of the Senate led the first delegation which was that of the wives of members of the Senate bureau.  Fadimatou Cavaye, the wife of the Speaker  of the National  Assembly, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril  led the second delegation  which  was  that of wives of  bureau members of the Lower House of Parliament. Madam Dion Ngute Grace, the wife of Prime  Minister, Head of Government , Chief  Dr Joseph  Dion Ngute led  the third delegation  which was that of members  of government  and those ranking as such. She equally for the first time led the delegation of the Circle of Friends of Cameroon (CERAC) following her recent appointment as the General Coordinator of the Mrs Chantal Biya‘s humanitarian  organisation.  

Other delegations  were wives of bureau members  of the Economic  and  Social  Council, Constitutional  Council,  Supreme  Court,   members  of  Central  Committee  of the Cameroon  People’s  Democratic  Movement (CPDM ), National  bureau  of the Women’s  Wing of the CPDM  ( WCPDM), female members  of the National  Assembly,  female Senators, wives of Rectors of the Universities  of Yaounde I and II, those of administrative  authorities,  female  mayors,  Central  administration  of the Ministry of Defence,  Joint Defence Staff and senior  Military  officers of the second  section. There were also the delegations  of wives of heads of public  and semi-public institutions, senior officials  of the Presidency  of the Republic,  Chantal  Biya  Foundation  and CHRACERH, African  Synergy  and Chantal  Biya  International  Reference  Centre, wives of trade union  leaders, female leaders  of Non-government  Organisations, female business  leaders. The last three delegations were those of female journalists, special guests of the First Lady and the delegation of Baka pygmies and Mbororos.

The event was spiced by moments of ecstasy. The first was when the First Lady came out, moved round to the cheers of her guests before proceeding with the handshakes. As this solemn part of the event unfolded, musicians drawn from all over the country competed with animation. Noticeable among them were Ben Decca, Tonton Ebogo, Ama Pierrot  among others.