(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
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.
For the first time, a general — Raymond Jean Charles Beko’o Abondo, 54 — has been appointed to head the presidential guard.
He is one of four generals heading units now responsible for presidential protection, according to a decree dated August 3.
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.
