AI Generated Image
The World's Oldest President Is Absent
Newser • • world
Key Points:
- Cameroon's 93-year-old President Paul Biya, unseen in public since early June and currently in Geneva, has reshuffled key military leadership, promoting five colonels to brigadier general and reappointing Raymond Jean Charles Beko'o Abondo as head of the presidential guard.
- Biya, in power since 1982, has a history of adjusting military leadership during politically sensitive times, including after the 2023 Gabon coup and last year's contested election for his eighth term.
- The recent military changes, signed from abroad, have sparked debate and criticism at home, especially online, amid concerns about the opaque and prolonged nature of Biya’s overseas stay, now reportedly 58 days.
- Despite his absence, Biya continues to issue decrees but has not yet formed a new cabinet or filled the newly created vice-presidency; officials maintain he is healthy and in full control, rejecting claims of a power vacuum.
- Opposition voices, like Mamadou Mota of the CRM party, argue that Cameroon is being "governed by remote control" as economic and social challenges worsen during Biya’s extended absence.
