At 93 years old, Paul Biya, who has led Cameroon since 1982 and holds the distinction of being the world’s longest-serving head of state, has been absent from Cameroonian soil for 48 days. His departure on June 7 for a “short private stay in Europe,” as officially announced, was made in the company of his wife, Chantal Biya.
The health of President Biya, a frequent visitor to Geneva, consistently fuels widespread speculation. While the government often issues denials, rumors regarding his well-being persist.
On June 18, in response to various media reports, René Emmanuel Sadi, the Minister of Communication, released a statement explicitly refuting claims of the Cameroonian leader’s hospitalization in a Geneva clinic.
For the Cameroonian opposition, this prolonged presidential absence underscores a “glaring institutional void,” a sentiment articulated by Mamadou Mota, Vice-President of the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), in a social media post on Friday.
“On autopilot”
Mid-July, Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya, President of the Democratic Union of Cameroon (UDC), urged the government to establish an “impartial procedure for determining the temporary or definitive incapacitation” of the head of state.
Countering accusations of a power vacuum, James Fame Ndongo, a senior figure within the presidential party and Minister of Higher Education, asserted on Tuesday that “wherever he is, the head of state meticulously monitors the files submitted to him by (…) his collaborators.”
Debates surrounding a potential power vacuum in Cameroon are a recurring feature of the political landscape. The most recent such controversy emerged in late 2024, when President Biya spent approximately fifty days outside the country.
Another opposition group, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), dryly remarked on Friday that the nation was operating “on autopilot.”
These frequent absences, spanning over two decades, consistently exacerbate the frustration felt by many Cameroonians regarding governmental inertia. “People are already exhausted from waiting,” acknowledged Viviane Ondoua Biwolé, a professor of public management at the University of Yaoundé.
“Firstly, because the current government has been in power for eight years, which is a record. Secondly, because we are emerging from an election with very mixed results. Many believe that after an election, it is time for renewal,” she further explained.
President Biya’s re-election to an eighth term in October 2025 triggered demonstrations that were brutally suppressed, with the government acknowledging “several dozens” of fatalities without providing an exact toll.
The election results, disputed by the opposition, were met with a degree of reservation by Western diplomatic missions.
Two months later, in his address to the Nation on December 31, President Biya assured the public that he would form a new governmental team “in the coming days.”
However, seven months have passed, and the new government he himself announced has yet to be formed. This delay is compounded by numerous postponements of municipal and legislative elections, indefinitely extending the terms of incumbent officials.
Post-Biya era
Despite the perceived inertia, the Cameroonian government has recently initiated certain institutional changes. This includes the replacement of the presidents of both parliamentary chambers in March, followed by the creation of a vice-president position through a constitutional reform in early May.
Yet, nearly three months after the reform, no vice-president has been appointed. This protracted delay has, predictably, fueled rampant speculation and public imagination.
In June, an individual appeared at the public radio station in Yaoundé, attempting to submit a document purported to be a presidential decree appointing the Vice-President of the Republic.
The counterfeit document bore the presidential seals and a signature attributed to President Biya. While journalists quickly identified it as a forgery and did not broadcast it, the incident nonetheless intensified existing rumors.
These institutional maneuvers only serve to amplify speculation about the post-Biya era and appear to accelerate the race for his succession, which remains shrouded in deep uncertainty.
“There is, more or less visibly, a crisis at the top of the state among the president’s inner circle,” asserted Ms. Ondoua Biwolé.
Political scientist Stéphane Akoa corroborated this, stating, “Increasing indiscretions indicate quarrels between the different clans in his entourage.”
Behind one of these “clans” looms the shadow of Chantal Biya, the First Lady, who is “increasingly present in state affairs,” with “her name often cited in decision-making and top appointments,” observed Mr. Akoa.
Until a vice-president is officially named, the responsibility for assuming power in the event of a presidential vacancy falls to the President of the Senate, Aboubakary Abdoulaye, who would serve until a presidential election could be organized.
