Before the official launch of Cameroon's presidential campaign on Saturday, one question dominates: where is Paul Biya, the world's oldest head of state who will seek an eighth term on October 12?

The outgoing president, in power since 1982, left Cameroon on Sunday for a "private trip to Europe," the presidency said in an official statement, without specifying the exact location, duration or reason.

The 92-year-old head of state, who rarely makes highly scrutinized public appearances, has, according to a diplomatic source, arrived in Geneva, his favorite destination for private stays for more than 50 years.

One of his previous trips to Switzerland, in September 2024, had caused a lot of ink to flow: his weeks of absence from the country had fueled rumors of death and forced the government to publish an unusual statement to reassure the population about his state of health.

This time, Paul Biya appears visibly fit in the video released by the presidency upon his departure from Cameroon, where he is accompanied by his wife Chantal and three advisers.

The head of state was expected to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday. He was ultimately represented by his Minister of Foreign Affairs.

- "Don't follow my advice" -

In addition to the proximity of the presidential election, for which he is the clear favorite against a divided opposition, his trip comes in a tense family context.

On the night of September 17-18, a few days before his arrival in Switzerland, his daughter, Brenda Biya, a regular at the InterContinental, a luxury hotel in Geneva, posted a video on TikTok in which, visibly disillusioned, she called on Cameroonians not to vote for her father.

Although the video was quickly deleted from her account, it still circulated and sparked a wave of reactions before Brenda Biya posted a new apology video on September 21. "I don't know anything about politics. Don't take my advice," she declared.

The president's daughter has also had run-ins with the Geneva courts: on June 4, she was convicted of defamation following a complaint filed by a Cameroonian-Nigerian artist who denounced insults and lies targeting her on social media.

The text of the judgment notes in passing that "the family (of Brenda Biya) frequently goes to the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva where rooms are rented to them on a year-round basis."

In 2018, a consortium of journalists investigating economic crime (OCCRP) estimated that Paul Biya had spent 4.5 years of his presidency abroad, and largely in Geneva, at a cost of $65 million.

- Remote campaign -

On October 12, Paul Biya will seek a new seven-year presidential term against 11 other candidates.

Unconfirmed rumors suggest that his CPDM party will hold a rally on Sunday in Maroua, in the far north of the country. It is unclear how many campaign rallies the CPDM will hold, and whether Mr. Biya will attend them.

The opposition, for its part, is multiplying discussions to no avail to nominate a consensus candidate. "Many Cameroonians are frustrated that the opposition, which has been trying for nearly 30 years to replace President Biya, is still unable to reach an agreement at this stage," said Arrey Elvis Ntui, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Paul Biya, who announced his candidacy on July 13 on X, has not since directly addressed his compatriots. "Initially, there were rumors that the president himself was not very motivated to run again" and that it was his entourage who pushed him to do so, recalls Arrey Elvis Ntui.

This absence can also be explained by his age and health, according to Davis Kiwuwa, head of the School of International Studies at the University of Nottingham's China branch: "The lessons learned from Biden's disastrous performance cannot have escaped him or his advisors. The longer he stays away, the more he maintains the illusion that he is mentally and physically up to the job."

- "The money of the Cameroonian people" -

To protest Paul Biya's new stay in Switzerland, an association of Cameroonians living in Europe is organizing a demonstration on Friday in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva.

Initially organized to denounce the rejection of the candidacy of Maurice Kamto, the main opposition leader and Mr. Biya's successor in the 2018 presidential election, this gathering took on a new dimension with the Cameroonian president's trip to Europe.

"We want to drive Paul Biya out of Europe" and "send him back to Cameroon," Diosky Moresmo, spokesperson for the Belgian Anti-Sardinards Brigade, told AFP.

Paul Biya is in poor health and has come to "restore his physical, moral, and psychological health" in Europe "with the money of the Cameroonian people," who have "no water, no electricity, no hospitals," these opponents denounce, crying scandal. A quarter of the Cameroonian population lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

"Every day, Cameroonians die (...) How can he rest peacefully in Geneva, at the taxpayer's expense, while his people suffer?" they protest.