Cameroonian President Paul Biya has been absent from the country for 53 days as of the report date following his departure for Switzerland on June 7, 2024. The 93-year-old head of state has not made a public statement or been seen publicly since leaving, and no official timetable has been announced for his return.

Biya is the world's oldest head of state and took office as president of Cameroon in 1982 after serving seven years as prime minister. He traveled to Switzerland with his wife, Chantal, on a trip that Cameroonian officials described as a brief private stay. Biya spends much of his time at the InterContinental hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, and has not made a public statement or been seen publicly since leaving for Switzerland.

The president was sworn in for his eighth consecutive seven-year term in November 2024 following a presidential election held in October 2024. The Constitutional Council of Cameroon dismissed post-electoral complaints by opposition parties following the October 2024 election, but Biya has not named a government since being sworn in for his latest term.

René Emmanuel Sadi, the Minister of Communication of Cameroon, stated that Biya was in good health and working from Geneva, where he currently resides. Sadi denied that Biya had been hospitalised in Geneva and addressed rumors regarding the president's condition. Reports claiming otherwise are pure fantasy and malicious manipulation aimed at destabilising opinion, Sadi said.

Jacques Fame Ndongo, the Higher Education Minister of Cameroon and a senior official of the ruling party, said Biya had been meticulously following the files submitted to him by his aides wherever he is. Grégoire Owona, the Labour Minister of Cameroon, said Biya, elected by the Cameroonian people and paid by them, is a worker who has the right to annual leave. His employer is obliged to grant it, Owona said. He informed his employer before leaving and will do the same upon his return, he added.

Jean Nkuete, the secretary general of the CPDM party, convened a meeting of senior CPDM party officials last week. The CPDM described the meeting convened by Jean Nkuete as an important working session but did not release an agenda or further details about the meeting convened by Jean Nkuete.

Mamadou Mota, the vice-president of the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement party, said Biya’s latest absence had created a glaring institutional vacuum. A country cannot be governed by remote control while critical socioeconomic challenges go unaddressed, Mota said. The Social Democratic Front has argued that the government failed to explain the extension of Biya's visit.

Kohtem Sambit, the secretary general of the opposition Movement for Patriotism and People’s Prosperity, said the minister of the economy borrowed more than 21bn Central African francs in the name of the Cameroonian people, saying it was approved by Mr Biya. How do we justify this, Sambit asked. You do not see the person who signed, nor do you know his whereabouts, he said.

That debt will be paid by the public, he said. If the president is on annual leave, he is still accountable to the Cameroonian people because he is paid with taxpayers’ money, Sambit said. His whereabouts should therefore be disclosed, he added.

Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya, a leader of the Cameroon Democratic Union, has called for an impartial procedure to determine any temporary or permanent incapacity of the head of state. Discussing Biya's health is illegal in Cameroon.

A constitutional reform in May 2024 established a vice-presidential post, but no official has been appointed to the role, leaving the position vacant despite the president's prolonged absence. The Cameroonian Constitution specifies that the Senate president would assume interim leadership in the event of a presidential vacancy, a provision that has not been formally activated during Biya's current absence. In 2024, Biya's 50-day absence from Cameroon did not trigger institutional changes or formal declarations of a power vacuum, according to reports. This marked the first time since 2009 that such an extended absence occurred without immediate constitutional or procedural responses.

Nji Lucas, a businessman in Cameroon, said no serious investor wants to commit resources in a country where there is uncertainty over political leadership. There is no trust, and investors require certainty before making long-term decisions, Lucas said. I do not have confidence because it is almost as if the country is on autopilot, he said.

Cameroon has the largest economy in Central Africa and an estimated population of 30.6 million, with young people making up about two-thirds of the population. Parliamentary and municipal elections in Cameroon are expected in early 2027.