Addressing concerns over the prolonged absence of the head of state, Jacques Fame Ndongo, Cameroon’s Minister of State, dismissed claims of a power vacuum as a «barbaric legal, political, or logical fallacy.» He emphasized that no legal or regulatory framework in Cameroon stipulates a maximum duration for the president’s absence from the country.

Therefore, invoking a non-existent constitutional provision against President Paul Biya would be akin to «a fanciful and wandering imagination of those who dwell in the quicksands of legal fiction.» The minister insisted that the leader, who has governed since 1982, remains actively engaged, meticulously reviewing files either in person or through widely accessible digital means.

The ruling party’s rebuttal followed swift criticism from the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), led by opposition figure Maurice Kamto. MRC’s Vice President, Mamadou Mota, questioned the legitimacy of a presidency exercised remotely: «After how many weeks of physical absence does the supreme magistracy become a mere illusion? Forty-five days outside national territory is not a temporary stay—it is a de facto exile.»

«This is not a visit, it is exile in practice»

The opposition party scoffed at the notion of Cameroon being governed through «clandestine remote work,» implying that President Biya’s oversight of state affairs via electronic channels amounted to an unacknowledged and irregular system of governance.