African president’s daughter convicted in Switzerland

The daughter of the president of Cameroon, Brenda Biya, has been convicted in Geneva, Switzerland for insulting Cameroonian-Nigerian singer Dencia on social media, calling her a “scammer”, a “dope dealer” and a “lil coke whore”.

Brenda is the daughter of 92-year-old Paul Biya who has been president of Cameroon for over 40 years.

The case sheds new light on the presidential family’s unofficial second home in an expensive Geneva hotel where they ran up bills paid from state coffers. A room is reserved for Brenda in the Swiss hotel all year round.

The background to all this was a dispute over the authorisation of beauty products. The singer sued the president’s daughter, who was found guilty of defamation, slander and insult, reports Swissinfo.ch

Top journalist François Pilet, who also works for SWI swissinfo.ch, revealed the penal order on the online portal Gotham City. “The case is more than a dispute between two public figures. It proves that the daughter of the Cameroonian president lives part-time in Geneva,” Pilet says.

The public prosecutor’s office was able to prove that Brenda Biya was staying in Geneva when she posted the messages on social media. It concluded from its questioning that the accused had long been a regular guest at the luxury InterContinental hotel, where a room is reserved for her all year round. Biya herself admitted, according to the penal order, that she had been travelling back and forth between Cameroon and Switzerland since the age of 12.

“This was long suspected to be the case and has now been confirmed,” says Pilet, calling it a scandal. “It can be assumed that the hotel stays are paid for from the Cameroonian state coffers; just like the Geneva visits of President Paul Biya, which have long been publicly known.”

Pilet was the co-author of a documentary by Swiss public television, RTS, in 2018 entitled Geneva, A Dictator’s Paradise, which traced Paul Biya’s visits to Geneva. According to the report, the Cameroonian president travels to Geneva by private jet at least twice a year to stay at the InterContinental hotel for several months. He does not travel alone – but with an entourage of around 60 people, who occupy an entire floor.

Paul Biya has been in power for over 40 years, and human rights organisations point to growing repression in the country. According to research by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), between taking office in 1982 and 2018 he has spent around four-and-a-half years on private visits abroad, mainly in Geneva. In the process, he is reckoned to have spent at least CHF150 million ($177 million), with hotel stays amounting to some CHF40,000 a night. According to former employees of the hotel, he always pays for everything in cash and gives out generous tips. “Given these sums, the state treasury is very unlikely to be spared,” says Pilet.

The president’s luxurious stays in Switzerland have long been a thorn in the side of many Cameroonians. A Cameroonian journalist, who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons, said on enquiry: “It is unacceptable for the majority of the population that their president lives in the lap of luxury abroad, while his country is battered by economic crises, food shortages and internal conflict.”

In the journalist’s mind there is no doubt that the funds for Brenda Biya’s hotel stays in Geneva also come from state coffers. “It is unclear where the president’s daughter is working at the moment,” the journalist said. She refused to disclose any of her finances to the Geneva public prosecutor’s office. But, although many Cameroonians suspect misuse of public money, precise information is hard to obtain, the journalist said. Press freedom in the country is severely curtailed. Several investigative journalists have been tortured or murdered in custody in recent years.

At 92, Paul Biya is the oldest president in the world; he plans to stand for re-election in October. He has ruled Cameroon since 1982, amid accusations of electoral fraud, clientelism and embezzlement. The country ranked 140th out of 180 in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index.

• Swissinfo.ch