Cameroon\u2019s ruling party called an urgent meeting of senior leaders in Yaound\u00e9 this Wednesday as public criticism mounted over the continued absence of President Paul Biya, who has spent the last 45 days abroad.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 93-year-old head of state, the world\u2019s oldest serving leader, left the country on June 7 for what official statements described as a “brief private stay in Europe.” However, with no official timeline provided for his return, his prolonged trip has become his longest overseas stay to date.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jean Nkuete, Secretary-General of the central committee of the ruling Cameroon People\u2019s Democratic Movement, summoned senior party officials for what was termed an “important working session,” though no official agenda was disclosed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The gathering comes amid growing friction from opposition figures and civil society groups, who have questioned the continuity of government and raised concerns regarding presidential authority in Biya’s absence. Opposition lawmakers have even petitioned the Constitutional Council to declare the Presidency vacant, though government officials maintain that state institutions remain fully functional.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In power since 1982, Biya has frequently spent extended periods in Switzerland and other European destinations. However, his advanced age and the absence of a designated Vice President continue to fuel intense public debate surrounding governance and executive succession in the Central African nation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–Reuters\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14650,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-40317","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Cameroon\u2019s ruling party meets as President Biya\u2019s 45-Day absence triggers growing criticism","published_date":"2026-07-22 15:59:22","news_description":"Cameroon\u2019s ruling party meets as President Biya\u2019s 45-Day absence triggers growing criticism","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40320,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40317\/revisions\/40320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=40317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}