Paul Biya, president of Cameroon since 1982 and oldest head of state in the world, returned Thursday evening to Yaoundé after more than two months of absence, which reignited a lively controversy in the country regarding his ability to lead the country. The Cameroonian leader, aged 93, left Yaoundé on June 7 for a “short private stay in Europe”, according to the presidency. According to the Cameroonian press, he was in Geneva, Switzerland, with his family and some of his closest collaborators.
After 73 days outside the country, Paul Biya left Yaoundé airport, greeting the crowd with a wave of his hand through the slightly ajar window of the car which was driving him to his residence, the Etoudi Palace, accompanied by his wife Chantal Biya. Several dozen activists from the presidential party, some of whom wore a loincloth bearing the president’s image, gathered at Yaoundé airport to welcome him, in a festive atmosphere.
An absence that raises questions
The state of health of Paul Biya, who stays very regularly in Geneva, is the subject of many rumors, sometimes denied by the government. On June 18, the Minister of Communication, René Emmanuel Sadi, denied the hospitalization of the Cameroonian leader in a Geneva clinic, in reaction to press articles.
This absence of unprecedented length has relaunched the debate on the inertia of Cameroonian power and sparked strong criticism from the opposition, which denounced an “institutional vacuum” and a country on “automatic pilot”, while the appointment of a new government and a vice-president have been awaited for several months. James Fame Ndongo, executive of the presidential party and Minister of Higher Education, brushed off the accusations of a power vacuum at the end of July, arguing that “where It turns out that the Head of State meticulously follows the files submitted to him (…) by his collaborators.”
Succession already on everyone’s mind
However, these repeated absences for more than twenty years continue to fuel the frustration of many Cameroonians. “It doesn’t make any difference whether he’s there or not. When he’s there, he doesn’t do anything. So I don’t think it is necessary to participate in this spectacle,” criticized Prosper Nkou Mvondo, leader of the opposition party Univers, interviewed by AFP.
The re-election of Mr. Biya to an eighth term in October 2025 gave rise to bloodily repressed demonstrations – the government recognizing “several dozen” of deaths without providing an exact toll. The results, contested by the opposition, had aroused a certain reservation among Western chancelleries.
This long stay outside Cameroon has also fueled speculation about the post-Biya era, accelerating the race for his succession, which however remains surrounded by thick fog. As long as a vice-president has not been appointed, it would be up to the President of the Senate, Aboubakary Abdoulaye, to take over in the event of a power vacuum, while a presidential election is organized.
