By Enyichukwu Enemanna
President of Cameroon, Paul Biya on Monday landed at the country’s capital Yaounde after several weeks of absence amid rumours about his health, state broadcaster CRTV showed.
Biya, 91, landed at Yaounde International Airport with a chartered plane carrying him and his wife Chantal Biya from Geneva.
It landed a few minutes before 5p.m. (1600 GMT), 42 days after he was away from the West African country.
Aircraft flight tracking sites showed that a Boeing with aircraft registration CMR001, previously used to transport Biya, left late Monday morning from Geneva, where he had been residing for several weeks, according to official sources.
Biya was received on the tarmac by his secretary general Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, with whom he chatted briefly before getting into his car.
Also, supporters wearing outfits displaying his portrait chanted to the beat of a drum, lining the roads as his motorcade swiftly left the airport for the presidential palace, CRTV, which dedicated a programme to his return had reported.
“Today the president is on his way and this will put an end to all the speculation,” declared a CRTV presenter.
An AFP reporter at the scene said one billboard with a portrait of Biya on a blue background, read, “Welcome home, Mr President of the Republic.”
