By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya on Thursday returned home after his longest recorded stay abroad since taking power more than four decades ago, bringing to an end months of speculation about his health and whereabouts.
The 93-year-old leader, accompanied by the First Lady Chantal Biya, touched down around 4.45 p.m. local time at Yaounde’s Nsimalen International Airport aboard a chartered flight from Geneva, Switzerland, after more than 10 weeks away.
He waved through a half-open window to hundreds of cheering supporters of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) who lined the streets of the capital to welcome him, waving party colours and banners praising the President.
Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, left Cameroon on June 7 for what his cabinet described as “a brief private stay in Europe”.
Biya’s prolonged absence had fuelled widespread speculation about his health and capacity to govern, despite repeated assurances from authorities that he would return soon.
It also raised more questions about political succession in a country where power remains highly centralized around the presidency.
Opposition politicians had called on the Constitutional Council to examine whether someone should fill in as head of state during the President’s absence. The council did not take any action.
Under Cameroon’s constitution, in the absence of a vice president, the president of the Senate should assume interim duties if the presidency is declared vacant due to death, resignation or permanent incapacity.
Biya has not appointed a vice president despite the reintroduction of the role last April, and critics say the lack of a clear succession framework raises uncertainty about a potential transition in the event he becomes unable to govern.
