Cameroon has prohibited any discussions in conventional and social media regarding the health of 91-year-old President Paul Biya, asserting that the status of the head of state, who has been in power since 1982, is a matter of national security.
The ban follows rampant rumors that the nonagenarian president had died abroad, which the government dismissed as “pure fantasy” orchestrated by “small groups and pernicious individuals for their own hidden ends.”
On Thursday, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, stated that the head of state is “the first institution of the republic” and that any debate about his health is a national security issue. “All debate in the media about the health of the President of the Republic is consequently formally prohibited,” Atanga Nji said, adding that “offenders would face the rigor of the law.”
The minister has instructed Regional Governors to establish monitoring units to record programs and debates in private and social media, identifying authors of “tendentious comments.”
Social media has been flooded with reports concerning the poor health and death of the Cameroonian leader. President Biya has not made a public appearance since September 8, when he was seen on TV departing Beijing after attending the Summit on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
On Tuesday, the government asserted that President Biya was in “excellent” health and would return to the country “in the next few days.” Minister of Communication and government spokesperson, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, described reports of the president’s death as pure fantasy. “The government of the republic unequivocally affirms that these rumours are pure fantasy and imagination on the part of their authors and hereby wishes to formally debunk such rumours,” Sadi said.
Sadi explained that Biya had taken a brief private stay in Europe following his participation in FOCAC. “However, he remains, as usual, and wherever he may be, attentive to the development of national life,” he assured.
Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, director of the president’s cabinet, added: “The Head of State continues to exercise his duties in Geneva and has never departed the city following his visit to Beijing.”
Cameroonians are familiar with President Biya’s “brief private stay in Europe,” as his cabinet typically announces. However, these stays often last longer than reported. Rumours about the president’s demise have been fuelled by a series of international trips, including attending the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics in July, where he was seen on TV sitting in the rain. Following that, he traveled to Beijing.
Since then, he has missed several significant international events. President Biya was expected in New York last week for the 79th United Nations General Assembly debate but did not attend. He also missed the 19th Francophonie Summit in France earlier this month.
During a reception to mark the German National Day in Yaoundé on October 1, the German Ambassador to Cameroon, Corinna Fricke, stated that President Biya would participate in the Hamburg Sustainability Conference that concluded on Tuesday. Again, President Biya did not turn up and was represented by Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.