Cameroon’s Paul Biya Returns Home After Lengthy Absence

President Paul Biya has returned to Cameroon after spending more than two months abroad, ending one of his longest recent absences and renewing questions about his health and succession plans. State media reported that his plane landed in Yaoundé, where crowds welcomed him, although footage of his arrival could not be independently verified. Biya, who has ruled since 1982, spent his latest overseas stay in Switzerland and largely remained out of public view. Analysts say the prolonged absence has damaged perceptions of his connection to the country, which continues to face a decade-long separatist insurgency and Islamic State-linked attacks in the north. Despite a constitutional change allowing for a vice president, Biya has declined to name one, a move experts say reflects his reluctance to signal a successor.