Yaoundé Olympic Qualifiers Note Book - Day 7

Cameroon President Paul Biya and his wife Chantal leave Yaounde International Airport for Europe on June 23, 2019. PHOTO | NDI EUGENE NDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Parliamentarians, mayors, ministers and senior government officials have to attend the function that is held at the president's residence and televised live on all stations.

IN YAOUNDE

Special day set aside for President’s New Year's wishes

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Believe it or not! In Cameroon, the President has to wish citizens Happy New Year in an official event that is held annually.

Parliamentarians, mayors, ministers and senior government officials have to attend the function that is held at the president's residence and televised live on all stations.

At the end of the ceremony all officials from the executive, judiciary, disciplined forces, parliament and Senate have to queue and shake President Paul Biya's hand and get their New Year wish. This year's ceremony was presided over by President Paul Biya yesterday and lasted more than four hours!

Mangoes for free, guidelines issued on how to harvest them

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The highways of Yaoundé, the capital, are littered with mangoes that fall off from trees alongside the roads.

Interestingly, anybody is free to eat the mangoes once they fall from the tree but citizens are highly discouraged from throwing stones at the trees to harvest the mangoes.

You can actually be arrested for throwing stones at the mango trees.

Cracked lips symbolise driest season of the year in Cameroon

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It’s the Harmattan season here in Cameroon. It’s the driest season.

It’s characterised by extremely cold evenings, nights and mornings.

During the day, temperatures shoot to around 30 degrees.

The effect is cracked lips and you have to drink lots of water to be spared.