President Paul Biya returns to Cameroon amid rumors his health is failing

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Cameroon’s President Paul Biya returned to his home country after weeks abroad amid rumors that his health is failing, a state-run television station reported Monday.

The 91-year-old president of the West African country appeared on television at the airport in the capital Yaounde, shaking hands with officials next to his wife Chantal and greeted by a cheering crowd of supporters.

“Finally, this is not a phantom, it is President Paul Piya having a lengthy discussion with government officials,” a presenter from the state-run broadcaster Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) said.

Questions about Biya’s health and whereabouts grew after he was last seen in public at the China-Africa summit in Beijing a month ago. Since then, he has not attended gatherings where he had been expected, including the United Nations General Assembly and the International Organization of La Francophonie summit in France.

Biya, who is known for traveling often to Europe, is known to be sick but no details have been publicly shared.

Biya is Africa’s second-longest-serving leader and Cameroon’s second president since independence in 1960. He has been in power since 1982. He is the only leader many in the country have ever known.

His government faces various challenges, including the secessionist movement in Cameroon’s English-speaking provinces that has resulted in deadly clashes with security forces as well as Islamic extremist violence by the Boko Haram group based in neighboring Nigeria.