Cameroon’s president draws concern and criticism by staying abroad for 2 months

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Cameroon President Paul Biya on Thursday reached two months since the last time he was inside the borders of his country, a prolonged absence that has raised concerns for his health and criticisms about a possible power vacuum in the Central African nation.

The world’s oldest president, who has led Cameroon since 1982, began his eighth term in office in November after winning a widely disputed election in October. But the 93-year-old left the country on June 7 for what Biya’s office described as “a brief private stay in Europe” that has become one of his longest trips overseas. His government later confirmed he was in Switzerland.

The health of the president has long been a topic of speculation as he spends significant time in Europe, including France and Switzerland, where he often spends weeks while leaving governance to key party officials and family members.

Cameroon’s constitution does not specifically prohibit a president from leaving the country for months. But without a vice president, an appointment Biya has full control over, the opposition has described the country as being run on “autopilot.”

Opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the presidential runner-up in October’s election and a former Biya ally, said Thursday there is a widespread perception in Cameroon that “all is not well” with Biya, whose absence has angered the opposition.

“Biya’s very long stay in Switzerland only aggravates that lack of legitimacy and his desperate attempts to hold on to power by force,” Tchiroma said in a text message from exile in The Gambia. Tchiroma won just over 35% of the vote but claimed victory, alleging fraud, citing results he said were collated by his party. Biya’s party members dismissed the claim.

The results of his nearly half-century in power have been mixed. Armed insurgencies by Boko Haram in the north and separatists in the west, along with a stagnant economy, have left many young people disillusioned with the leader.

Wilson Tamfuh, a professor of Public and International Law at the University of Dschang, compared Cameroon to a human body that is “seriously sick.”

“Even if Biya still proves to be strong at this age, it is clear that his health challenges are taking a toll on his leadership. Cabinet reshuffles over the past 15 years have amounted to little more than recycling the same people from one ministry to another,” Tamfuh said.

Biya’s 2025 reelection sparked widespread protests that left at least four people dead, signaling significant tensions between the mostly young population and its aging leader.

On Monday, Biya reshuffled the top military leadership, replacing commanders of four of the country’s five joint military regions and promoting several senior officers to higher ranks. No official reason was given, but one of the replaced commanders had died and another retired.

Biya came to power following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo, who served from 1960 to 1982.

A 2008 constitutional amendment abolished term limits, and Biya has now led Cameroon longer than most of its citizens have been alive: more than 70% of the country’s population of nearly 30 million people is below the age of 35.

If he serves his entire term, Biya will leave office at nearly 100 years old.

___

Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.