Absent Cameroon president boosts personal security corps

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(FILES) Cameroon President Paul Biya delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Provence during World War II, at the Boulouris National Cemetery (“necropole nationale”) in Boulouris-sur-Mer, south eastern France, on August 15, 2024. Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP

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Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has strengthened his personal security with a clutch of new appointments, as questions swirl about the 93-year-old’s prolonged absence from the country.

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For the first time, a general — Raymond Jean Charles Beko’o Abondo, 54 — has been appointed to head the presidential guard.

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He is one of four generals heading units now responsible for presidential protection, according to a decree dated August 3.

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Biya, the world’s longest-serving head of state, also appointed army chief Hippolyte Ebaka as chief of defence staff, making him deputy to the highest-ranking military officer, chief of the general staff Rene Claude Meka.

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The appointments come with renewed debate over Biya’s absence and his ability to carry out his duties, as he has not been seen for nearly two months.

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But the government has denied that his health has deteriorated and said he would return to Cameroon soon. Biya has been president since 1982.

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Cameroon’s opposition said Biya’s absence had created an “institutional vacuum” that had put the country on “autopilot”.

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The appointment of a new government and vice-president has been pending for several months.

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