Paul Biya Is Back in Cameroon After Ten Weeks. The New No. 2 Job Is Empty
CAMEROON · POLITICS
Key Facts
—The return: President Paul Biya landed at Yaoundé-Nsimalen shortly after 4 pm on Thursday 20 August and reached the Palais de l’Unité around 6 pm.
—The absence: He left Yaoundé on Sunday 7 June for what the presidency called a short private stay in Europe, making the trip 74 days.
—The statement: The presidency said officials who greeted him found him in perfect health, and attacked what it called false allegations spread on social media.
—The record: Biya is 93 and has been in power since 6 November 1982, making him the world’s oldest serving head of state.
—The mandate: He was re-elected on 12 October 2025 with 53.66% against 35.19% for Issa Tchiroma Bakary, and the seven-year term runs to 2032.
—The empty chair: Parliament voted 200 to 18 in April 2026 to create a vice-presidency that would complete the mandate in case of vacancy. No vice-president has been appointed.
—The market angle: Central bank forecasts put CEMAC reserves at about US$14 billion by end-2026, credited largely to Cameroonian and Congolese Eurobond issues.
The Paul Biya return to Yaoundé on 20 August ended a 74-day absence that revived a question the country has spent four decades not answering. The presidency says he is in perfect health; the post created in April to succeed him remains empty.
What happened on Thursday
The presidential aircraft landed at Yaoundé-Nsimalen shortly after 4 pm on Thursday 20 August, and Biya reached the Palais de l’Unité around 6 pm. Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute and the secretary-general of the presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, met him at the foot of the steps.
Thousands of supporters of the governing party lined the route from the airport. The presidency’s own account said those who greeted him had the privilege of shaking his hand and seeing that he “is in perfect health”.
The same statement attacked individuals spreading false allegations about the president’s health through social media and what it called certain instrumentalised foreign media. Its combative tone is itself the clearest signal of how much ground the rumours had gained.
The presidency never names the destination. Press reports say he flew in from Geneva, and the presidency’s own photographs of the arrival are filed under that name.
Seventy-four days, and what the Paul Biya return settles
He left Yaoundé on Sunday 7 June for what a presidential communiqué described as a short private stay in Europe. From 7 June to 20 August is 74 days, though at least one international outlet counted 73.
Either way it is close to two and a half months without a public appearance by a 93-year-old head of state. He has held office since 6 November 1982, longer than any other serving leader in the world.
Biya was re-elected on 12 October 2025, a result the Constitutional Council proclaimed on 27 October with 53.66% for him and 35.19% for Issa Tchiroma Bakary. It was his eighth term and he was sworn in aged 92.
Tchiroma rejected the count. Press tallies of the unrest that followed put the death toll at at least 14, with more than 1,200 arrests, figures the government has not confirmed.
The vice-presidency nobody has filled
On 4 April 2026 parliament, sitting in congress, voted 200 to 18 to amend the constitution and reintroduce a vice-president of the republic. The post is appointed by the president and revocable by him, and its holder would complete the presidential mandate if the office fell vacant.
As of 22 August no vice-president appears to have been appointed. A decree purporting to name one circulated on social media during the absence and was dismissed as false.
Cameroonian legal commentators have argued that with the post empty the vacancy procedure itself is blocked, because only the vice-president would be able to seize the Constitutional Council. That is an analytical claim rather than a settled reading, and it has not been tested.
The older text is clearer but narrower. Under the 1996 constitution a vacancy arises only on death, resignation or permanent incapacity established by the Constitutional Council at the government’s request, after which the Senate president acts provisionally.
Even that fallback has been rebuilt this year. Marcel Niat Njifenji left the Senate presidency in March after nearly thirteen years and died on 11 April, aged 91 by most accounts; Aboubakary Abdoulaye, the Lamido of Rey-Bouba, succeeded him.
Communications Minister René Emmanuel Sadi rejected opposition calls during the absence to have a vacancy declared, arguing that only the Constitutional Council can establish one.
Why creditors are watching a health rumour
Cameroon is one of the two sovereigns holding up the Central African monetary union’s external position. Regional central bank projections from July put CEMAC foreign exchange reserves at about 7,962 billion CFA francs by the end of 2026, roughly US$14 billion and a 25% increase, credited mainly to the success of Cameroonian and Congolese Eurobond issues.
The same forecasts revised regional growth up to 3.2% for 2026 and put external currency coverage at 70.7%, against 65.2% in 2025. None of that is comfortable, but it is improving.
A succession that ran through an untested constitutional procedure would put all of it at risk. Cameroonian business press reported in April that the reform was being watched by markets and ratings agencies, precisely because an orderly transfer is now a credit variable rather than a political abstraction.
That is the practical reason a 74-day trip to Europe mattered beyond Yaoundé. The country has a mechanism on paper and no one in the chair.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long was Paul Biya out of Cameroon?
He left Yaoundé on 7 June 2026 and returned on 20 August, an absence of 74 days, though some outlets counted 73. The presidency described it as a short private stay in Europe.
How old is Paul Biya and how long has he governed?
He is 93 and has been president since 6 November 1982, making him the world’s oldest serving head of state. His current term runs to 2032.
Does Cameroon have a vice-president?
No. Parliament voted in April 2026 to create the post, which would complete the presidential mandate in case of vacancy, but no appointment has been made.
What happens if the presidency falls vacant?
Under the 1996 constitution a vacancy must be established by the Constitutional Council, after which the Senate president acts provisionally. The 2026 amendment assigns that role to a vice-president, a post that is currently empty.
Connected Coverage
We reported the military reshuffle carried out during the absence, and the state finances behind it, where four state firms hold 80% of Cameroon’s on-lent debt.
For the wider contest over influence in Central Africa, see Africa: The New Scramble and the Central Africa hub.
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