Cameroonian president Paul Biya landed on Monday, October 21, at the capital Yaounde's international airport, after several weeks out of the country amid rumors about his health, state broadcaster CRTV showed. The West African nation's 91-year-old leader appeared on television after the presidential plane landed, shaking hands with officials next to his wife Chantal, as a jubilant crowd waited to greet him.
Supporters wearing outfits displaying his portrait chanted to the beat of a drum and lined the roads as his motorcade swiftly left the airport for the presidential palace, according to CRTV, which dedicated a program to his return.
Questions about Biya's health and whereabouts grew when he disappeared from public view after leaving Beijing at the beginning of September following a China-Africa cooperation summit. "Today the president is on his way and this will put an end to all the speculation," declared a CRTV presenter.
Aircraft flight tracking sites showed that a Boeing with aircraft registration CMR001, previously used to transport Biya, left late Monday morning from Geneva, where he had been residing for several weeks, according to official sources.
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.
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. The Cameroonian leader also did not participate in the United Nations General Assembly in New York nor a summit for French-speaking countries in Paris.