Paul Biya, who has led Cameroon since 1982 and holds the distinction of being the world’s longest-serving head of state, is 93 years old. As of Saturday, he has been absent from Cameroonian soil for 48 days, having departed on June 7 for what an official statement described as a «short private stay in Europe», accompanied by his wife, Chantal Biya.
Mr. Biya, a frequent visitor to Geneva, has been the subject of numerous rumors concerning his health, some of which the government has subsequently refuted.
For instance, on June 18, in response to various press articles, Communication Minister René Emmanuel Sadi issued a communiqué explicitly denying reports of the Cameroonian leader’s hospitalization in a Geneva clinic.
From the perspective of Cameroon’s opposition, this prolonged presidential absence highlights a «glaring institutional void», as articulated by Mamadou Mota, vice-president of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), in a recent social media post.
«Automatic piloting»
In 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.
However, James Fame Ndongo, a senior figure within the presidential party and Minister of Higher Education, dismissed allegations of a power vacuum, asserting that «wherever he is, the head of state meticulously follows the files submitted to him (…) by his collaborators».
Controversies regarding a potential power vacuum in Cameroon are not new. The most recent instance occurred in late 2024, when Mr. Biya spent approximately fifty days outside the country.
Another opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), dryly remarked that the nation was operating on «automatic piloting».
These recurring absences, spanning more than two decades, continue to fuel widespread frustration among many Cameroonians regarding the perceived inertia of the government. Viviane Ondoua Biwolé, a professor of public management at the University of Yaoundé, observed that «people are already exhausted from waiting».
She elaborated, «Firstly, because the current government has been in place 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’s time for renewal.»
Mr. Biya’s re-election to an eighth term in October 2025 was met with protests that were violently suppressed, with the government acknowledging «several dozens» of deaths without providing an exact toll.
The election results, disputed by the opposition, were met with a degree of reservation from Western diplomatic missions.
Two months later, in his December 31 address to the Nation, Mr. Biya assured the public that he would form a new governmental team «in the coming days».
Yet, seven months have passed, and the new government he himself announced has still not been formed. This delay is compounded by multiple postponements of municipal and legislative elections, indefinitely extending the mandates of incumbent officials.
After-Biya
Despite these delays, the Cameroonian government has recently initiated some institutional changes, including the replacement of the presidents of both parliamentary chambers in March, followed by the creation of a vice-president post through a constitutional reform in early May.
Nevertheless, nearly three months after the reform, no vice-president has been appointed. This ongoing delay has inevitably intensified speculation.
In June, an individual appeared at the headquarters of the public radio in Yaoundé to submit a document purported to be a presidential decree appointing the Vice-President of the Republic.
The counterfeit document bore the seals of the presidency and a signature attributed to Mr. Biya. However, the vigilance of journalists prevented its broadcast, though it still contributed to the circulating rumors.
Such institutional maneuvers only amplify speculation about the post-Biya era and appear to accelerate the race for his succession, which remains shrouded in mystery.
«There is, more or less visibly, a crisis existing at the highest levels of the state among the president’s inner circle,» stated Ms. Ondoua Biwolé.
Political scientist Stéphane Akoa corroborated this assessment, noting that «more and more indiscretions point to quarrels between the different clans in his entourage».
Behind one of these «clans», the shadow of Chantal Biya, the First Lady, looms large. She is «increasingly present in state affairs,» with «her name often cited in decision-making and top-level appointments,» observed Mr. Akoa.
As long as a vice-president remains unappointed, it falls to the President of the Senate, Aboubakary Abdoulaye, to assume interim leadership in the event of a power vacuum, pending the organization of a presidential election.