Where is Paul Biya? Cameroon’s incumbent absent as presidential campaigning picks up

As campaigning starts on Saturday for Cameroon’s presidential 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. Story by Laurent Berstecher.