Cameroon citizens want proof their 91-year-old president is alive

Cameroon's President Paul Biya appears at a press conference at The Presidential Palace in Yaounde, Cameroon, July 26, 2022. [File, VOA]

Cameroon government officials said the central African state’s 91-year-old president, Paul Biya, is in good health, contrary to information circulating on social and mainstream media.

Biya has not been seen in public since his official visit to China more than 1 month ago. Citizens say they want proof that their longtime leader is well.

Biya is in excellent health, according to a statement issued Tuesday by Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, director of the Civil Cabinet.

Ayolo said Biya is in Geneva, Switzerland, where he has been granting audiences and working for the development of Cameroon.

The statement comes after social media reports on Tuesday said Biya was dead but gave no details as to where and when the long-serving leader had died.

Biya was last seen in Beijing over a month ago during a China-Africa leaders forum. In the meantime, some citizens said they do not believe Biya is alive.

One of those is Gloria Wirkom, a businessperson in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde.

"He is our president, and if there is something wrong with him, we have the right to know," she said. "So we are pleading with the government of Cameroon to let us know the health state [state of health] of our president."

Wirkom said she does not trust government officials' declarations that Biya is in good health. Wirkom said she will believe Biya is alive only when she sees him.

On Cameroon State TV, government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi said he unequivocally affirms that the rumors of Biya’s death are pure imagination.

Sadi said the day after the China-Africa summit, Biya stayed briefly in Europe, and that wherever he might be, Biya is attentive to the well-being of Cameroonians.

Akongnwi Neba, a merchant, said it is wrong for the government to wait until a rumor spreads before explaining where Biya is.

"We are asking the government to prove to us where he [Biya] is," said Neba. "We need to know his whereabouts, whether he is alive or dead. It is our right as citizens of the country to know where our president is."

Cameroon officials have not said whether Biya will appear in public in Geneva. VOA could not independently confirm whether Biya was in the Swiss city.

Biya is the oldest leader in the world. He has ruled Cameroon for more than four decades, and his supporters have been holding public rallies asking him to be a candidate in elections expected in October 2025. Biya has not said whether he will run for president again.