YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon — When Paul Biya first became president of Cameroon in 1984, Nformi Bime was a 23-year-old student.
Four decades later, Bime is 65, retired from teaching, and watching the same president remain in power.
Biya, now 93, has ruled Cameroon since 1982, when he became president following the resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo. Last year, he secured a disputed eighth term in office, potentially extending his presidency until he is nearly 100.
“The best is yet to come,” Biya said ahead of the election, which opposition parties described as fraudulent. The vote was also followed by deadly clashes between protesters and security forces.
But for the past two months, Biya has been thousands of miles from Cameroon.
The president left the country on June 7 for what his office described as a “brief private stay in Europe.” His prolonged absence has since become one of the longest uninterrupted periods he has spent outside Cameroon in recent years, raising fresh questions about his health and who is effectively running the country in his absence.
Last week, government spokesman René Emmanuel Sadi told French broadcaster RFI that Biya was in Geneva, Switzerland, and was not hospitalized. He provided no further details about the president’s activities or when he might return to Cameroon.
A president rarely seen in public
Biya is Cameroon’s second president since independence in 1960 and one of the world’s longest-serving leaders.
He first won election in 1984 under a one-party system and went on to win six more elections after Cameroon reintroduced multiparty politics.
His long periods abroad are not unprecedented. However, his latest absence has reignited longstanding speculation about his health and the extent to which he remains personally involved in governing the country.
Rumors surrounding Biya’s health and whereabouts have become a recurring feature of political life in Cameroon. His government has repeatedly rejected reports that he was seriously ill or had died.
In 2024, authorities went further, banning media organizations from discussing the president’s health and describing such discussions as a matter of national security.
Biya’s longevity in office also highlights a broader political reality across Africa. The continent has the world’s youngest population, yet several countries continue to be governed by aging leaders whose political careers began decades ago, often during the independence and liberation era.
For millions of Cameroonians, the political landscape has remained remarkably unchanged.
Biya is the only president many of them have ever known.
And as his latest absence stretches into another month, questions about his health, his whereabouts and the future of Cameroon’s leadership are once again taking center stage.
Credit:CNN
