Biya’s 48-Day Absence Reignites Debate Over Power Vacuum In Cameroon
The lengthy absence of Cameroon’s long-serving President Paul Biya, who has been in Switzerland since early June, has reignited debate about government inaction, in a country where many crave change.
As of Saturday, it will be 48 days since the 93-year old Biya who has been in power for more than 40 years and is the world’s oldest head of state, left Cameroon.
An official statement said he departed June 7 for a “short, private stay in Europe” with his wife Chantal Biya.
The president, who has made frequent trips to Geneva over the years, has faced waves of speculation and rumours regarding his health, which at times have been denied by the government.
Responding to articles in the press, Communication Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi issued a statement on June 18, denying that Biya had been hospitalised in a Geneva clinic.
Earlier this month, the president of the Cameroon Democratic Union (UDC), Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, called on the government to establish “an impartial procedure for determining the temporary or permanent incapacity” of the head of state.
Allegations of a power vacuum in Cameroon are nothing new as the last time was in late 2024 when Biya spent around 50 days outside the country with the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) party saying that the country was “on autopilot”.
Cameroonian authorities have initiated some institutional change, replacing the presidents of both chambers of parliament in March and creating a vice-presidential post via constitutional reform in May.
