YAOUNDÉ — Cameroon’s 93-year-old president, Paul Biya, remains in Geneva, Switzerland, with his return home uncertain after knee surgery reportedly triggered post-operative complications that have left him unable to walk, according to sources familiar with his condition — even as the Cameroonian government insists he is not hospitalized.
Biya departed Yaoundé on June 7, 2026, accompanied by First Lady Chantal Biya, Civil Cabinet Director Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, and Vice Admiral Joseph Fouda, in what officials described as a routine private trip to Europe. As of Wednesday, July 30, he has been absent from Cameroon for 53 days — the longest stretch away from the country since he assumed power in November 1982.
Sources with knowledge of the situation told ABS that upon arriving in Switzerland, the president initially stayed at the InterContinental Hotel before being admitted to a private clinic, where he underwent knee surgery. It was following that procedure, sources say, that serious complications emerged, severely affecting his mobility. Unable to walk, the president was reportedly hospitalized a second time, with access to visitors limited to a small number of members of the Cameroonian delegation.
The Cameroonian government has categorically denied those accounts. In an official statement signed June 18 by Communications Minister René Emmanuel Sadi, Yaoundé described the hospitalization reports as “malicious and unfounded,” insisting that the president is in Geneva but is not staying in any medical facility. The government offered no independent proof of Biya’s condition or public appearance.
A diplomatic source cited by Jeune Afrique, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Biya “is beginning to recover from his surgical procedures,” but added that the president experienced another health incident around July 11 that required further hospital treatment. The source described his condition as “not alarming” but confirmed he remains under active medical care.
Biya’s daughter, Brenda Biya, went further in a video statement, declaring that her father is dying — though she has made dramatic claims before and later walked them back. No independent party outside the Geneva clinic has been able to verify the president’s precise condition.
Back in Yaoundé, the uncertainty has thrown the country’s protocol and security apparatus into a state of prolonged standby. Preparations for Biya’s return have reportedly been activated and then cancelled several times, with no new timetable communicated publicly each time plans changed.
Since July 28, sources say discussions within the Cameroonian delegation in Geneva have intensified and fractured along two opposing lines. One group, concerned about the erosion of government credibility and the growing perception of a leadership vacuum, is pushing for the president’s prompt return. The other, led by Franck Biya — the president’s eldest son and, according to Jeune Afrique investigations, a figure positioned among potential succession candidates backed by barons from the South Region — is resisting any rushed departure, arguing that the required medical and security conditions have not been met. Authorities at Geneva Airport are also said to have raised concerns about the logistics of any immediate return.
Opposition figure Mamadou Mota has described Biya’s absence as a “glaring institutional vacuum,” while Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, president of the Cameroon Democratic Union, has urged the government to establish “an impartial procedure for determining the temporary or permanent incapacity” of the head of state.
The prolonged absence has cast a sharp spotlight on a provision of Cameroon’s April 14, 2026 constitutional revision: the reintroduction of the office of Vice President of the Republic, a position that had been absent from the country’s institutional architecture since Biya himself came to power in 1982. No Vice President has been appointed. Under the existing constitution, a presidential vacancy triggers an interim by the Senate President, followed by elections within 120 days.
It is not the first time Biya’s extended absences have triggered institutional anxiety. In late 2024, he faced widespread criticism for a 50-day absence from the country. The current stay has already surpassed that record.
Cameroon’s government did not respond to ABS requests for comment.
