{"id":2000121358,"date":"2026-08-03T11:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000121358"},"modified":"2026-08-03T11:32:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:32:40","slug":"cameroon-says-biya-will-return-soon-as-record-absence-fuels-speculation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/cameroon-says-biya-will-return-soon-as-record-absence-fuels-speculation\/","title":{"rendered":"Cameroon says Biya will return soon as record absence fuels speculation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Communication Minister and government spokesperson Ren\u00e9 Emmanuel Sadi said on Sunday that the 93-year-old leader was expected back soon, dismissing rumours surrounding his prolonged stay abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe president is alive. There is no power vacuum,\u201d Sadi said in an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI), without providing details on when Biya would return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biya has not been seen publicly since June 7, when he left Cameroon for what officials described as a \u201cbrief private stay\u201d in Switzerland. The absence, which has now lasted more than 50 days, has renewed questions about the health of the world\u2019s oldest serving head of state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has repeatedly rejected reports suggesting that Biya is seriously ill. Sadi previously said the president was in good health and continuing to work from Geneva, where he has spent extended periods in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReports claiming otherwise are pure fantasy and malicious manipulation aimed at destabilising opinion,\u201d Sadi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other senior officials have also defended Biya\u2019s absence. Higher Education Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo said the president had continued to follow government matters through documents submitted by his aides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labour Minister Gr\u00e9goire Owona offered a different explanation, describing Biya\u2019s absence as annual leave and arguing that the president, like any other citizen, had the right to take time off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPaul Biya, elected by the Cameroonian people and paid by them, is a worker who has the right to annual leave,\u201d Owona said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, opposition figures have criticised the lack of clarity surrounding the president\u2019s whereabouts and the extended nature of his stay abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamadou Mota, vice-president of the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement, said Biya\u2019s absence had created an \u201cinstitutional vacuum\u201d, arguing that the country could not be governed remotely while facing major social and economic challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns have also grown because Biya has yet to appoint a new government after being sworn in for his eighth consecutive seven-year term in November 2025. The presidential election that secured his latest mandate was disputed by opposition groups, which alleged irregularities and voter suppression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameroon\u2019s authorities banned public discussion of Biya\u2019s health in October 2024 after another prolonged absence, but speculation has continued online, with social media users reviving jokes describing him as a \u201cremote-work president\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate has also raised questions about succession arrangements. Parliament restored the office of vice-president in April as part of constitutional reforms, but the position remains vacant, leaving no designated deputy should the president become temporarily or permanently unable to perform his duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, political tensions have intensified within the ruling Cameroon People\u2019s Democratic Movement (CPDM), with senior party officials recently holding a rare meeting described only as an \u201cimportant working session\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biya, who first became president in 1982, has increasingly spent time outside Cameroon in recent years, particularly in Switzerland. His long absences have become a recurring source of debate over governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
President Paul Biya has not been seen publicly since June 7, when he left Cameroon for what officials described as a \u201cbrief private stay\u201d in Switzerland. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cameroon\u2019s government has moved to reassure the public that President Paul Biya is alive and will soon return to the country after his longest absence from public view in recent years triggered widespread speculation over his health and ability to govern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000121359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[151,101],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000121358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-editors-choice","tag-internationl","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000121359,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cameroon-president-paul-biya-2013-d8ef5-1.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":734,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cameroon-president-paul-biya-2013-d8ef5-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":734},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cameroon-president-paul-biya-2013-d8ef5-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":734},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cameroon-president-paul-biya-2013-d8ef5-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":734},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cameroon-president-paul-biya-2013-d8ef5-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":734},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cameroon-president-paul-biya-2013-d8ef5-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":734}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000121358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000121360,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121358\/revisions\/2000121360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000121359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000121358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000121358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000121358"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000121358"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000121358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}