President Paul Biya and wife Chantal Biya have returned to Cameroon. Their plane landed at the Nsimalen Airport in Yaounde Monday evening as the Cameronian leader ended a 49-day stay abroad.
It was Biya’s longest stay out of the country since he took power in 1982.
Accompanied by his cabinet director Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, President Biya was received at Nsimalen by a crowd of CPDM party loyalists and state dignitaries, including the Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.
Biya’s arrival finally lays to rest widespread speculations that the 91-year-old might have died or was critically sick.
He left the country on September 2, 2024 for the China-Africa summit in Beijing, and had last been seen in public on September 8.
The Communication Minister and the cabinet director two weeks ago dismissed rumours that Biya was sick or dead, stating that he had taken a private stay in Geneva, Switzerland.
While Biya is used to taking long breaks abroad and has often spent weeks without appearing in public, this period of absence raised much debate about vacancy at the Presidency.
“If the President is indeed in good health, as the Civil Cabinet claims, and is not engaged in an official capacity in Geneva, one might question whether he has absconded from his official duty post, which is based in Yaoundé,” said human rights lawyer, Tamfu Richard, who petitioned the National Assembly over the President’s prolonged absence.
