As campaigning starts on Saturday for Cameroon’s election, the nation is puzzling over the whereabouts of the lead candidate: its 92-year-old leader, Paul Biya — the world’s oldest head of state.

In power since 1982 and seeking an eighth term in office in the October 12 polls, Biya left the central African country on Sunday for a “private trip to Europe”, his office said, without elaborating.

Diplomatic sources said the leader, who is rarely seen in public, was in Geneva, his favourite destination for personal visits.

The trip comes a week after his daughter Brenda called on Cameroonians not to vote for him, in a TikTok video that she later retracted.

A weeks-long trip to Switzerland by Biya last September had fuelled rumours of his death, forcing the government to issue a statement re

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