Cameroon’s President Paul Biya returned home on Thursday after spending more than 10 weeks abroad, ending a prolonged absence that had intensified speculation over his health and the country’s political succession.
The 93-year-old president arrived at Yaounde’s Nsimalen International Airport on a chartered flight from Geneva, Switzerland, in what was his longest recorded stay outside Cameroon since coming to power more than four decades ago.
Biya left Cameroon on June 7 for what his civil cabinet described at the time as a “brief private stay in Europe.”
Accompanied by First Lady Chantal Biya, the president landed at around 4:45 p.m. local time before travelling by motorcade to the Etoudi Unity Palace.
Hundreds of supporters of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement lined streets in the capital, waving party colours and banners as Biya passed. The president waved to the crowd through a partly opened vehicle window.
Biya’s extended absence had fuelled questions about his health and ability to continue governing, despite repeated assurances from officials that he would return.
The episode also renewed debate over succession in Cameroon, where political authority remains heavily concentrated around the presidency.
Opposition figures had urged the Constitutional Council to consider whether another official should temporarily exercise presidential powers during Biya’s absence, but the council took no action.
Under Cameroon’s constitution, the president of the Senate would assume interim responsibilities if the presidency were formally declared vacant because of death, resignation or permanent incapacity.
Biya has not appointed a vice president despite the position being reintroduced in April, adding to concerns among critics about how a transition of power would be managed if he were no longer able to serve.
Biya, who is the world’s oldest serving head of state, has ruled Cameroon since 1982.