The lengthy absence of Cameroon’s long-serving President Paul Biya, who has been in Switzerland since early June, has reignited debate about government inaction, in a country where many crave change.As of Saturday, it will be 48 days since Biya, 93, who has been in power for more than 40 years and is the world’s oldest head of state, left Cameroon.
An official statement said he departed June 7 for a “short, private stay in Europe” with his wife Chantal Biya.
The president, who has made frequent trips to Geneva over the years, has faced waves of speculation and rumours regarding his health, which at times have been denied by the government.
Responding to articles in the press, Communication Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi issued a statement on June 18, denying that Biya had been hospitalised in a Geneva clinic.
Still, the opposition views Biya’s absence as indicative of a “glaring institutional vacuum”,
This post was originally published on this site.
