Cameroon’s 91-year-old President returns home after death rumour

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has returned to his home country weeks after he was rumoured to have died.

This is according to state-run broadcaster, Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV).

The 91-year-old appeared on television at the airport in Yaounde, shaking hands with officials next to his wife Chantal and greeted by supporters.

“Finally, this is not a phantom, it is President Paul Piya having a lengthy discussion with government officials,” a presenter said.

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Large posters also appeared in the Cameroonian capital welcoming back the head of state who has ruled the country unchallenged for more than four decades. “Welcome home, Mr President of the Republic,” said one billboard with a portrait of Biya on a blue background, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Biya has not been seen in public since attending a China-Africa forum in Beijing in early September.

His failure to appear as scheduled at a summit in France earlier this month stoked speculation that the nonagenarian was unwell.

Biya’s absence from the meeting of leaders from French-speaking countries in Paris was much remarked on at the two-day event, according to three non-Cameroonian African ministers who attended.

On October 8, after consistent rumors about Biya, the government released a statement saying he would be back in the country in the next few days.

Then the government formally banned local media from discussing the state of his health.