Paul Biya is 91 years old and is the world’s oldest head of state, a milestone he reached in September 2022 after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. He had not been seen in public for over a month, sparking rumors of his death.
Cameroonian President Paul Biya was seen in public for the first time in six weeks. The 91-year-old head of state has missed several events over the past month, including the United Nations General Assembly and the French-speaking Countries Summit, sparking rumors of his death.
According to the BBC, during the afternoon of Monday, the state station of Cameroon showed images of the arrival of the president at the airport of the capital, Yaoundé, on a flight from Switzerland.
The president - in power since 1982 - was last seen on September 8, during a summit in Beijing, and the government banned the media from talking about his health.
After rumors that the president had died, the government denied the allegations and revealed that Biya was in good health during a private visit to Geneva, Switzerland.
Local media in Cameroon has aired footage of President Paul Biya arriving back in the country following a “private break in Europe”.
He had not been seen in public since early September- leading to speculation around his health.
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It should be emphasised that Cameroon has had only two heads of state since independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1960, and Biya is the only president that most Cameroonians have known to date.
Although he became the oldest head of state last September, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he is still not the oldest serving president in the world.
That honour goes to another veteran African leader, the 80-year-old president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, who has ruled with an iron fist since 1979, when he overthrew his uncle Francisco Macias in a coup d'état.
