Cameroonian President Paul Biya, still in Geneva, Switzerland, did not travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly at the end of September, where he was announced. He was also not present at the Francophonie summit on October 4 and 5 in Paris, nor in Hamburg, Germany, at the start of the week. The health of Paul Biya, 91, who has ruled Cameroon for 42 years, has been a source of speculation and concern in recent days. Faced with rumors about his state of health, in an official press release, the Cameroonian authorities seek to reassure.
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With note corresponding to Yaoundé, Polycarp Essomba
What made the government react was a video broadcast online by a private television channel this Tuesday. ABS, Africa Broadcasting Service, is based in Houston, United States. Its star presenter is an English-speaking separatist leader in exile. Absolutely early this Tuesday morning that President Paul Biya was dead, claiming to have information from Cameroon, Switzerland and France.
In a press release published at the end of the afternoon, René Sadi, the Minister of Communication and government spokesperson, denounced rumors which are fantasy and pure imagination, a rumor to which he says he formally denies. The Head of State, informs René Sadi, has agreed to a short private stay in Europe, but he remains attentive to the evolution of national life, continues the Minister of Communication.
Before this press release, two other ministers, members of the central committee of the Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People (RDPC), the majority party, also denounced these rumors. For Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, these are unfounded allegations.
The Minister of Labor, Grégoire Owona, for his part declared in the afternoon that those who try to deceive public opinion by announcing the death of the Cameroonian head of state must “ pay the high price “. The appropriate institutions must take action against these impostors.
More than a month after the departure of President Paul Biya of Cameroon for the China-Africa summit, accompanied by his wife Chantal Biya, no date of return to Yaoundé has been announced.
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