Souley Onohiolo shave ceremony set for july 3 after eight-month bet

The long-awaited shave of journalist Souley Onohiolo, dubbed Operation “Tomber la Barbe” (Drop the Beard), will finally take place after eight months of waiting for a potential government reshuffle that never came.

In October 2026, Souley Onohiolo made a bold pledge: he would not shave or cut his hair until President Paul Biya, re-elected on October 12, 2026, changed the cabinet that has been in place since 2019. Eight months later, with no reshuffle in sight, the veteran journalist has decided to end his silent protest.

“The President of the Organising Committee for the ‘Big Souley ONOHIOLO Shave’ project informs the national and international press that on Friday, 3 July 2026 at 12:00 noon, the official ceremony of ‘Tomber la Barbe’ of Souley ONOHIOLO, Emeritus Journalist, Senior Reporter, and Editorialist, will take place at the BOTANIK’S Beauty Centre located in the Essos neighbourhood of Yaoundé,” states the committee’s communiqué.

The shaving ceremony is placed under the high patronage and general supervision of Dieudonné Mveng Balla, promoter of the Info TV channel, according to the committee members. They describe the event as “a singular and unprecedented gathering that will bring together the elite of Cameroon’s and the world’s media around a man whose personal and quiet revolt, expressed through eight months of hair commitment—a forest of beard and unshorn scalp—has become a republican struggle.”

Ultimately, Souley Onohiolo has resigned himself to shaving after upholding his bet for eight months without any prospect of a government overhaul. It is out of sheer weariness that the journalist has decided to part with his hair. The committee adds: “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 3 July ceremony will close, in the presence of the press and under the eyes of those who have followed, from near or far, this singular epic.”