Biya’s ‘brief-long’ stay abroad: Who is lying, who is telling the truth?.

Biya, who has been in Switzerland since flying out of Cameroon on June 7, 2026, has remained trendy as many citizens are increasingly pressing for answers on what is keeping him this long out of the country and if all is okay with their leader.

Before Biya’s departure to what was initially an unknown destination to Europe, he was last seen in public on May 20, 2026. That was during activities marking the National Day. 

His destination in Europe was later disclosed by Government’s Spokesman and Minister of Communication, Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi. This was when a report by Pan-African media organ, Jeune Afrique, on June 17, 2026, stated that the Head of State was admitted in a private hospital in Geneva, Switzerland. 

The report had revealed that President Biya was undergoing medical care in the foreign hospital; following a malaise he supposedly suffered at the Unity Palace, while receiving guests at a dinner to mark this year’s National Day celebration. 

In his rebuttal on June 18, 2026, Minister Rene Sadi had described the said report as “malicious and unfounded speculation”. 

He acknowledged that the Head of State “is indeed in Geneva, Switzerland, but is by no means admitted in any medical facility, nor is he in a state of health that requires care to the extent suggested by Jeune Afrique”. 

Minister Rene Sadi in his statement, had stated that the Head of State “might legitimately take the opportunity of his stay in Geneva to undergo routine medical check-ups”. 

Amid the varied quest for answers to the Head of State’s long stay abroad, some of the President’s men, whom he has been working with for decades, are battling to calm the storm of doubt raging across the nation and beyond. 

The personalities, most of them members of government, have been taking turns to make a case for Biya’s close to two months absence from the scene.

Some have been throwing jibes at those lacing the debate over the President’s absence with death rumours. 

While those backing the Head of State’s long-stay abroad are vehement that he remains in charge, leaders within the opposition circles have been condemning his long stay in Europe.

In the process, they are making different readings of what is happening and what could be done to avert similar situations in future.

But the question remains; who among them is lying and who is saying the truth?

Opposition sparks vacancy debate

What irked the cool of Biya’s men is a July 17, 2026, outing of opposition Member of Parliament, MP, Hon Jean Michel Nintcheu. 

He had urged the Constitutional Council to declare a vacancy at the helm of State. Hon Nintcheu’s call provoked those on the government bench to come to the defense of their master.

Joke in bad taste

During a press conference in Yaounde on July 23, 2026, the National Chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Front, SDF, Hon Joshua Osih, said the situation was no longer funny. 

Osih acknowledged that though there is no Constitutional limit, regarding how long the President can stay out of the country, what is happening is “indecent and contemptuous”.

The SDF Chairman was insistent that if the long stay abroad is linked to health concerns, Biya “can return to the ‘Continent,’ because the Minister of Public Health had assured us, that Cameroon possesses medical facilities that envy nothing of Western countries”. He urged for transparency in communication on issues concerning the President and his state of health.

Legal vacuum puts gov’t under no obligation to justify 

In a publication yesterday, Hon Cabral Libii, also leader of the opposition Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation, PCRN, made a different reading of Biya’s prolonged absence.

Hon Cabral argued that irrespective of the buzz around the issue, there is a legal vacuum, which must be addressed, to avoid such from recurring. 

He insisted that with the current state of what the law says, the government is under no obligation to justify the President’s current long stay in Europe.

The PCRN leader traced the issue to Presidential elections since 1992, arguing that, the quest for change has not produced the desired results because citizens haven’t committed enough to achieve it. 

He rather drummed mass registration of the electoral register to massively vote MPs who he said, could adjust the legal opening that doesn’t control a President’s absence.

“…it is good to rise up and get emotional about the duration of the stay of the President of the Republic abroad. This situation, which is not new, simply reveals a legal vacuum regarding the limitation of the stay of the President of the Republic outside our national borders,” Cabral Libii wrote. 

The situation at hand, he said, “…envelops the absence of the Head of State in legality and on the other hand, it does not oblige the government to justify his absence”.

‘Biya will inform his employer’s once back’

Joining the train of arguments, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Gregoire Owona, said on Tuesday, that Biya is on annual leave. 

He insisted that the President had informed Cameroonians, who he said are his employers, before leaving the country and will inform them of his return once back in Cameroon.

“…there is no power vacuum in Yaounde,” Owona argued, insisting that: “…government is at work. His Excellency Paul Biya, elected by the Cameroonian people and paid by them, is a worker who has the right to his annual leave. His employer is required to grant it...he therefore has the right to annual leave, which he might, why not, be taking now and which could legally last 80 days”.

The minister, who is also the Deputy Scribe of the CPDM Central Committee, condemned what he said are pointless debates about Biya’s prolong absence and vacancy at helm of State.

He insisted that some people just want to create a buzz out of everything. Biya, he insisted, has continued to sign decrees, despite being on what he calls “annual leave”.

No vacancy at helm of State

Meanwhile, on July 23, 2026, the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, rubbished those he described as spreading unfounded information. 

Prof Fame Ndongo wrote as Communication Secretary of the CPDM, that there is no law which regulates Biya’s stay abroad. He insisted that the Head of State is working wherever he is.

The Higher Education boss urged everyone to remain focused on their work and avoid speculating about “…'vacant' power, when it's not the case.”

He equally cautioned against “demonising a Head of State who has dedicated the majority of his life to the nation, shamelessly glorifying gossip in a ridiculous chaos, instead of 'cultivating your garden'”.

Biya in good health, detractors may die before him

Paris-based Pan-African Magazine, Jeune Afrique, in yet another article on the matter, published on July 28, 2026, quoted, the Minister, Director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, as stating that President Biya is in fine form and doing well.

The magazine quoted Ayolo as insisting that the Head of State "has never been hospitalized.” 

The publication equally quoted the Director of Civil Cabinet as saying “President Biya recently invited his relatives for lunch at a restaurant in Évian" in France.

On how Biya is running the country, Jeune Afrique quoted Ayolo as saying: "You all know that on July 23, 2026, the President made appointments at the National Hydrocarbons Corporation, SNH. He is currently working on several files...the Head of State is a human being like any other, he will leave one day, but that’s not the case yet”.  

He was firm on what may befall those impatiently waiting for Biya’s end, noting that: “Some, within the inner circle, are waiting for his departure, but they might leave before him”.

Long stay warrants dismissal 

Prominent lawyer and acerbic Biya regime critic, Barrister Alice Nkom, on her part, argued in a post on her official Facebook page on July 23, 2026, that in a civilised country, Biya should have since been dismissed from office.

Likening the situation to an employee in an institution, she shared the view that “…in any company in our country, such a long and unjustified absence systematically leads to dismissal. And no court would qualify such a decision as abusive dismissal”.

Nkom said it is a paradox that Biya, who was supposed to be at the service of the people “…works from a hotel in Geneva, while those who finance his position have no right to question his long absence from the scene, except to remain silent…”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3862 of Wednesday July 29, 2026