The long‑awaited shaving of journalist Souley Onohiolo, dubbed Operation “Tomber la barbe”, will finally take place after eight months of waiting for a hypothetical government reshuffle.
The journalist had made a bet that he would not shave until President Paul Biya, re‑elected on 12 October 2026, changed the cabinet that has been in place since 2019.
“The Chairman of the Organising Committee of the ‘Souley ONOHIOLO Big Shave’ project informs the national and international press that on Friday 3 July 2026 at 12:00, the official ‘Tomber la barbe’ ceremony of Souley ONOHIOLO, Emeritus Journalist, Senior Reporter and Editorialist, will take place at the BOTANIK’S Beauty Centre (a service‑providing establishment) located in the Essos neighbourhood of Yaoundé,” reads the communiqué from the committee organising Souley Onohiolo’s shave.
According to members of the organising committee, the journalist’s shaving ceremony is placed “under the High Patronage and General Supervision of Dieudonné Mveng Balla, Promoter of the Info TV channel”.
It is described as “a singular and unprecedented event that will bring together the cream of the Cameroonian and world media around a man whose personal and silent revolt has spanned eight months of hair commitment – a forest of beard and an unshorn skull – to establish itself as a republican struggle.”
Ultimately, Souley Onohiolo has resigned himself to shaving after holding his bet for eight months with no prospect of a government reshuffle in sight. It is therefore out of sheer weariness that the journalist has decided to part with his hair.
“Better still, a symbol of resistance, a mark of civic engagement and a firm will to impact society – to move the lines. It is this story that the ceremony of 3 July will bring to a close, in the presence of the press and under the gaze of those who have followed, from near or far, this singular epic,” adds the organising committee.
