Cameroonian President Paul Biya has reshuffled the country’s
military command as his absence stretches into the longest yet.
Presidential decrees issued on Monday promoted the head of
the presidential guard to
a brigadier-general from colonel and replaced commanders in four of the country’s five joint
military regions.
Other colonels were also promoted while changes were made to
motorised infantry brigades.
Biya made the appointments in separate decrees from Geneva,
where he has been staying since leaving Cameroon on June 7 for what his team
described as a “brief private stay”.
Rene Emmanuel Sadi, Cameroon’s government spokesperson, said
“the president is alive” and will soon
return.
Cameroon’s ruling party called a rare meeting of senior
leaders last month as criticism mounted over the continued absence of Biya.
This is the president’s longest absence from the country. In
2024, he spent 42 days out of the public eye.
Rumours of his death began to swirl, leading the Cameroonian
presidency to officially debunk the reports.
Biya, 93, who has ruled the
oil- and cocoa-producing country since 1982, often spends
extended stretches abroad, though his advanced age has lately fuelled
speculation about his health, whereabouts and ability to govern.
This is also not the first time the world’s oldest president
has made changes to his military. As coups swept across the African continent
in 2023, Biya reshuffled his ministry of defence.
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