Biya: The World’s Oldest President Left For A ‘Brief Stay’ In Europe - CNN

The world’s oldest president left for a ‘brief stay’ in Europe. He hasn’t returned in two months

A president who is rarely seen

Biya is Cameroon’s second president since independence in 1960 and one of the world’s longest-serving leaders.

He has spent extended periods abroad during his presidency. But his latest absence has revived questions about his health and who is running the country while he is away.

Rumors about Biya’s health and whereabouts have long been part of public life in Cameroon, where he is rarely seen in public. His office has repeatedly had to push back against speculation that he was seriously ill or had died. In 2024, the government banned media discussions about his health, calling them a national security matter.

Biya’s long rule also reflects a wider contrast across Africa. The continent has the world’s youngest population, but several countries are still led by aging leaders whose political careers began decades ago, including former liberation figures now governing in a different era.

For millions of Cameroonians, Biya is the only president they have ever known.

After more than four decades under the same president, questions about his leadership have only grown.

Despite being away, Biya has continued to make key decisions from abroad, including a major military reshuffle announced earlier this month. Yet questions about his prolonged stay overseas have left officials publicly assuring Cameroonians that their president is still alive.

Government spokesman Sadi dismissed concerns about a power vacuum, telling RFI that “President Paul Biya is alive” and “will soon return.”

From hope to frustration

Few imagined that the man they saw as a new beginning would remain in power for decades. For his critics, the disappointment is not just about how long Biya has stayed in office, but what they see as his failure to improve the lives of ordinary Cameroonians.

Political analyst Collins Molua Ikome, a Cameroonian based in Germany, said he saw some of the country’s problems firsthand when he visited Cameroon in April.

“Roads in Cameroon are extremely bad. I even witnessed a fatal accident,” he told CNN.

Ikome also pointed to frequent power cuts, corruption and a lack of jobs for young people.

Wilson Tamfuh, a public and international law professor at the University of Dschang in West Cameroon, said the country has institutions that can keep the government running when the president delegates responsibilities. Key duties, he said, can be handled by the prime minister, the secretary-general at the presidency and ministers.

But the bigger question, Tamfuh said, is whether the government is solving the country’s longstanding problems.

“People want the Anglophone crisis resolved, standards of living ameliorated, more good roads, fewer people on the streets with degrees, and more,” he told CNN, referring to the years-long separatist conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

Whenever Biya eventually leaves office, his successor will inherit a country also facing attacks by Boko Haram militants in the north and deep economic frustration among young people.

Healthcare is another concern. Ikome said access to quality healthcare remains out of reach for many Cameroonians.

“Life expectancy in the country is below 70 years. However, Biya has far outlived that due to access to medical healthcare abroad, which the ordinary Cameroonian cannot access due to poverty,” Ikome said.

The divide is not unique to Cameroon. Across Africa, political elites have often sought healthcare or maintained homes abroad, even as public services at home struggle.

“Anytime they have a cold, they run overseas and are taken care of, but the other Cameroonians are dying because of lack of care,” he said.

Source: edition.cnn.com