By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Cameroon’s government has banned the media from discussing the health of President Paul Biya, Africa’s second-longest-ruling leader who has spent over 40 years in office.
“The head of state is the principal institution of the republic, and discussions on his condition are a matter of national security,” said the document addressed to regional governors, which was dated October 9 and signed by Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji.
This comes amidst concern about the condition of the 91-year-old leader of the Central African country who has not been seen in public space for one month.
This has fuelled speculations that Biya may be gravely ill.
The statement added, “All discussion in the media on the president’s condition is therefore officially banned.”
The document, which bore a red stamp reading “highly urgent”, added that anyone violating the order would “face the full force of the law”.
It ordered regional governors to create “monitoring cells” charged with tracking content in private media, including social networks.
Biya has been Cameroon’s President for more than 41 years, second in Africa only to 82-year-old Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has held power in Equatorial Guinea for 45 years.
Biya’s last public appearance was at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing last month.
He did not take part in the subsequent United Nations General Assembly opening in New York or a summit of French-speaking countries in Paris.
The president’s office issued a statement Tuesday saying Biya was in “excellent health”, condemning rumours to the contrary as “disinformation”.
He “is working and attending to his affairs in Geneva,” said a government spokesman, adding that Biya would return to Cameroon “in the coming days”.
