PRESIDENT Paul Biya, 91, is alive, hale and hearty, government sources in Yaoundé said in reaction to the latest rumours about the death of Biya, who has been President since November 1982, when he stepped in after President Ahmadou Ahidjo’s surprise resignation.
Born Paul Barthélemy Biya’a bi Mvondo on 13 February 1933, he was Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982 under Ahidjo. He is the second-longest-ruling President in Africa, behind Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, 45 years, and the longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world and the world’s oldest Head of State.
“No he is not dead,” a source in Yaoundé said. “These rumours are persistent and occur regularly these days.
“He is on vacation in Geneva, no doubt about that. If you are in Geneva, he is at the Intercontinental Hotel.
“At 91, one cannot rule out some health issues once in a while. But as we speak, he is alive and well.”
Biya, Cameroon’s second President since its independence from France, 64 years ago, firmed up his authority after he eliminated his major rivals in a 1983 attempted coup attempt, which reportedly had the support of Ahidjo. Biya put Ahidjo on trial in absentia.
Another coup in 1984 was the final opportunity for Biya to take over Cameroonian politics by eliminating more Ahidjo loyalists. He lives abroad for long stretches termed vacations, but it is widely understood that they are times to attend to Biya’s fragile health.
South of France used to be Biya’s favourite destination until increasing disagreements with new power holders in France left many African leaders of French-speaking countries in various degrees of strained relations with France.
Biya of Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement is the front-runner in the presidential election billed for February 2025. He would be 92 then, if the election is held on or after 13 February.
Two other candidates, Eric Essono Tsimi of Nous Sommes Le Changement /We Are the Change, an academic and writer based in New York, and Maurice Kamto, aged 71, a retired academic and lawyer, of the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon, are running. Kamto ran agsinst Biya in 2018. Alliance politique pour le changement (APC) and the Front for Change in Cameroon (FCC) are supporting Kamto.
