Paul Biya, the Lion Man, is back after 74 days of absence
Cameroon’s state broadcaster CRTV and the Presidency carried live coverage from Yaoundé-Nsimalen International Airport on Thursday as President Paul Biya was reported to have returned to the country after 74 days outside public view.
But for an event organised around the President’s return, one thing was strikingly missing from the live images: a clear, unmistakable live shot of Paul Biya himself.
Viewers saw officials at the airport, vehicles and the presidential convoy preparing to leave. At one point, a hand appeared inside the window of a vehicle and seemed to wave. But the person inside the car was not clearly visible, making it impossible from that image alone to confirm that the hand belonged to Biya.
As the convoy was already making its way toward the Unity Palace, CRTV suddenly showed footage presented as Biya at the airport.
The moment was particularly notable because CRTV journalist Ashu Nyenty acknowledged on air that viewers had been questioning why they had not seen the President. He then pointed to the newly displayed image as evidence that Biya had indeed arrived.
The image disappeared shortly afterwards.
That sequence raises an important question: how could a live broadcast dedicated to Paul Biya’s return fail to clearly show him arriving, only to produce footage of him after the moment had passed?
Technically, broadcasters can insert previously recorded footage into a live programme. But if that is what happened, questions remain about when the images were recorded, why they were not shown as events unfolded, and whether viewers were clearly informed that they were watching an earlier recording rather than a live image.
The issue is especially significant given the intense public scrutiny surrounding Biya’s prolonged absence and previous controversies over old photographs and videos being circulated as proof of his activities.
MMI News is not suggesting that the later footage was false or that Biya was not at Nsimalen. But after weeks of uncertainty over his whereabouts, the absence of a clear live image of the President at the very event meant to confirm his return leaves legitimate questions about transparency.
For a return that attracted enormous national attention, the simplest proof would have been equally simple: show the President live.
