President Biya not in hospital!.

Ten days later, Pan-African magazine, Jeune Afrique, screamed in a headline that: "Paul Biya in Switzerland: Behind the scenes of another medical stay for the Cameroonian President".

It added that he was "treated in a private clinic in Geneva," after "feeling unwell during the national holiday on May 20, 2026".

The next day, June 18, the Minister of Communication and Government Spokesperson, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, refuted the hospitalisation component of the report.

He, however, expatiated officially that the President is in Switzerland but “not hospitalised and will return to Cameroon as soon as possible".   

The minister pointed out in a release, trending on the social and conventional media that the “Government of the Republic strongly denies this claim, which is clearly based on malicious and unfounded speculation, and which, moreover, seriously undermines the fundamental principles of professional journalism. This situation is all the more deplorable given that this allegation comes from a well-established news outlet”.       

Separating facts from fiction in the report by Jeune Afrique, Minister Rene Sadi added that: “The Government of the Republic wishes to confirm that the Head of State is indeed in Geneva, Switzerland, but is not staying in any hospital. Furthermore, it wishes to clarify that his state of health does not require medical care of the magnitude suggested by Jeune Afrique”.

He clarified that: “Moreover, the Government wishes to emphasize that, even if the Head of State could legitimately take advantage of his stay in Geneva to consider simple medical consultations, he continues, as always, to follow the affairs of the Republic with the utmost attention and to prescribe, if necessary, the appropriate measures”.

His rebuttal of Jeune Afrique’s report, has been interpreted by articulate commentators as a  direct response to a new wave of speculation, visibly aimed at containing conjectures among diplomats, the media and politicians about the President's health.

Recalled that when President Biya left the country, on September 2, 2024, after the Fourth Forum of the China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Bejing, rumours, constellation and questions about his bill of health swirled for weeks, as he did not return to the country.

As speculations about his bill of health went viral on the national and international media, with some gutter reports insinuating that he had passed on again, the Minister, Director of the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, and Communication Minister and Government Spokesman, Rene Sadi, refuted.

They explained that he was in excellent health and would return to Cameroon in the next few days. Their clarification was followed by an October 9, 2024, instruction by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, to Regional Governors to ban any debate in the media about Biya’s health. He threatened that offenders would face the full force of the law.

Atanga Nji, who is also the Permanent Secretary of National Security Council, had ordered governors to create monitoring units to track and record all broadcasts and debates on the President’s health, in privately owned media and on social media to identify the suspects. 

His threats could not be taken lightly, given that renowned Publisher of French language newspaper, Le Messager, the late Pius Njawe, was jailed in December 1997, for two years in prison and fined 500,000 FCFA for "spreading false information" when he published a report, claiming President Paul Biya suffered a cardiac arrest during the 1997 Cameroon football Cup finals. 

His return to the Presidential Podium, after the half-time break, was delayed for several minutes. Because of intense pressure from international press freedom groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch, an appeal saw his sentence reduced to one year but he served only 10 months.

For 44 years in a high demanding office at the summit of State and at  the ripe aged of 93, President Biya has never been officially announced for attending medical consultation at home or abroad.

The only time formally stated that he visited a medical facility was an unannounced rare public appearance at the Magrabi ICO Cameroon Eye Institute in Obak, located just some 30 kilometres away from  Yaounde. He was spotted in the company of the First Lady, Chantal Biya, and his closest collaborators. 

For a leader at that advanced age and over four decades in power, his health situation, even if as fit as a fiddle, is bound to entice news hunters around the world, if not at home, where it is a taboo.

It is not the first time the government in its defensive posture of keeping the health of the Head of State secret, that has invited the media to spy, peek or peep into it and thus received official refusal, rebuttal, condemnation or sanctions.

The Guardian Post commends Minister Sadi’s swift response that President Paul Biya is not hospitalised and that he would return to Cameroon “as soon as possible.”

However, given the controversies, gossips and speculations surrounding the President’s health, which has become the nexus of a succession struggle and governance uncertainty that are internationally being scrutinised, an open proactive narrative that enriches public understanding and stimulates probing conversations about those two issues, health and movements, are required, not secrecy that breeds hurried rejoinders.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3825 of Monday June 22, 2026