Paul Biya douses death rumours, returns to Cameroon after 49 days abroad

President Paul Biya of Cameroon has returned to the country amid speculations about his health.

Biya arrived in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital, on Monday from Geneva, Switzerland, where he has been after attending the Africa-China summit in Beijing on September 8.

The Cameroonian president spent nearly six weeks out of the country.

The president successively cancelled appearances at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) summit, and the Sustainable Development Forum in Hamburg, Germany, raising concerns about his health.

Rumours about his health reached a crescendo after ABS Africa TV announced the president’s death.

However, Samuel Ayolo, the director of the presidency’s civil cabinet, issued a statement, debunking Biya’s rumoured death.

Ayolo said the president was in an “excellent state of health” and was working from Geneva, where he had never left since his arrival from Beijing.

The presidency further outlawed any discussion about Biya’s health, saying it was a matter of national security.

On Monday, CRTV, the state broadcaster, showed the 91-year-old leader shaking hands with officials next to Chantal, his wife, after disembarking from the presidential plane.

A jubilant crowd dressed in outfits displaying Biya’s portrait chanted to the beat of a drum and lined the roads as his motorcade swiftly left the airport for the presidential palace, according to CRTV.

Large posters also appeared in Yaounde, welcoming the president, who has ruled the country unchallenged for more than four decades.