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Biya has not been seen in public for more than five weeks, since attending the Africa-China forum in Beijing in early September
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Yaoundé, Cameroon — The condition and exact whereabouts of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya remain unclear on Thursday, two days after the government announced that Biya was alive in Geneva, Switzerland, following rumors on social media that he had died. Biya has not been seen in public for more than five weeks, since attending the Africa-China forum in Beijing in early September.
Cameroon's Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, informed residents of Massock, a village near the Atlantic coast, that Biya had sent him to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of floods sweeping across the Central African state.
Nji, like many senior Cameroonian state officials, assured civilians that Biya is in good health, dismissing the rumors circulating on social and mainstream media about the 91-year-old president's death as misinformation spread by those seeking to create chaos in Cameroon.
"The president of our nation, Cameroon, cannot be dead,” Gregory Mewano, a member of Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, said Thursday on state radio. “You see the prime minister in Germany with an entourage, the minister of the interior managing internal affairs, and the minister of public works inspecting projects."
Officials say Biya will return to Cameroon soon, though they have not specified when. There were no signs of illness during his time in Beijing. He had been scheduled to attend a meeting of French and African leaders in Paris afterward, but he did not appear, with no explanation given for his absence.
Cameroon’s opposition and civil society groups have voiced concerns about Biya's absence and health, calling on government officials to present Biya to the public rather than merely stating that he is alive.
With elections only a year away, some groups say it is time to consider a new, much younger candidate to lead the country forward. "We have made it clear to both national and international audiences that several opposition political parties are consulting on the situation in Cameroon, and these rumors [about Biya’s death] are no exception,” said Michael Ngwese Eke Ekosso, president of the opposition United Socialist Democratic Party. “Decisions will be made regarding the upcoming presidential elections."
Some opposition parties have proposed uniting behind Akere Muna, an English-speaking anti-corruption lawyer and good governance advocate, as a candidate in the October 2025 presidential election.
Akere Muna has been fronted to replace Paul Biya on presidential seat
Muna, who is 72, said that if elected, he would oversee a three-year transitional period to lift Cameroon from Biya's 42 years of authoritarian rule.
"Our deep reflection is that a non-renewable transition is essential,” Muna said. “The vision we are proposing is to strengthen democracy and governance, adopt a new constitution that reflects the present and future aspirations of the Cameroonian people, and promote free and fair elections."
If elected, Muna would become Cameroon’s first leader from the western regions, where English is the primary language.
His supporters argue that having a president from that area may help resolve the seven-year insurgency by English-speaking armed groups, who claim that English speakers in Cameroon are marginalized by the French-speaking majority. Opposition parties hold Biya responsible for failing to resolve the crisis.
In the meantime, Cameroonians of all political affiliations anxiously await concrete signs that Biya is alive and will soon return to his country.
Source: VOA News
