Cameroon’s President Biya home after 73-day absence, amid health speculation

Biya, the world's oldest serving head of state, landed in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé on Thursday after travelling from Geneva, where he had been staying since 7 June on what the presidency described as a “short private stay”.

Cameroonian media reported that the president, who has led the Central African country since 1982, had been accompanied in Switzerland by family members and close aides.

Dozens of supporters of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement gathered at the airport to welcome him, some dressed in clothing carrying the veteran president's image.

While his return ends the speculation surrounding his whereabouts, questions over his health, the functioning of the presidency and his eventual succession are unlikely to disappear.

Cameroon government says Biya's prolonged absence 'no cause for concern'

Health rumours

Biya's health has long been the subject of speculation in Cameroon, thanks in part to his frequent and sometimes lengthy stays in Geneva.

On 18 June, Communication Minister René Emmanuel Sadi rejected reports that the president had been admitted to a clinic in the Swiss city.

But as Biya's absence stretched into weeks and then months, opposition figures increasingly questioned who was exercising executive authority in his absence.

Critics accused the government of allowing an “institutional vacuum” to develop and said the country was effectively operating on “autopilot”.

Political attention has also focused on the fact that the appointment of a new government and a vice-president have been pending for months.

Senior ruling party figures have rejected suggestions that Biya's absence prevented the state from functioning.

James Fame Ndongo, a prominent member of the ruling party and Cameroon's higher education minister, said last month that the president remained in charge of state affairs while abroad.

For other Cameroonians, however, the president's frequent spells abroad over the past two decades have become a source of increasing frustration.

“It makes no difference whether he returns or stays away. When he is here, he does nothing,” said Prosper Nkou Mvondo, leader of the opposition Univers party. “I see no reason to take part in this spectacle.”

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Succession questions

Biya's return comes less than a year after his re-election for an eighth term, in October 2025.

The vote was followed by protests that were violently suppressed by the authorities. Officials acknowledged that several dozen people had been killed but did not issue a definitive death toll.

Having led Cameroon for more than four decades, Biya is one of the longest-serving national leaders in the world. His latest prolonged stay abroad has revived discussion about what might follow his presidency, prompting renewed manoeuvring among figures considered possible successors.

The succession question is particularly sensitive due to the fact that Cameroon currently has no vice-president.

Under the constitution, Senate President Aboubakary Abdoulaye would be next in line to assume responsibility for the country in the event of a vacancy at the presidency, pending the organisation of a presidential election.

For now, however, Biya's arrival in Yaoundé has provided the government with a visible response to weeks of speculation about his health and authority.

(with newswires)