Cameroon bans speculation on President Biya’s health
Published: Thursday, Oct 10th 2024, 20:00
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Speculating about the health of the world's oldest president, Cameroon's head of state Paul Biya (91), is now forbidden in his country. Anyone who violates this instruction will feel the harsh hand of the law, announced Paul Atanga Nji, Minister for Territorial Administration of the Central African country.
Biya has not been seen in public for more than a month. He missed the UN General Assembly and the summit of French-speaking countries in France, raising questions about the illness or death of the world's second longest-ruling head of state.
Cameroon's government repeatedly denied all rumors. The president has been on a private visit to Europe since the China-Africa summit at the beginning of September and will return to Cameroon in a few days.
In fact, Biya often stays in Geneva or does not appear at summits. Observers considered the government's reaction this time to be extraordinary. Cameroon's journalists' association called the ban on questioning Biya's condition a threat to press freedom, which is already restricted in the country.
Biya has been president of the Central African country with more than 28 million inhabitants since 1982. Only dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in Cameroon's neighboring country Equatorial Guinea has been in power longer than him.
Although Biya has allowed a multi-party system and regular elections are held, he is regarded as an authoritarian ruler whose apparatus deals harshly with opponents. The non-governmental organization Freedom House rates Cameroon as unfree with a score of 15 out of 100.
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