In response to growing suspicion that 91-year-old President Paul Biya was ill, Cameroon has banned any talk regarding Biya’s health, according to a letter released by the interior ministry.

The reports that the president had been unwell were brushed off as “pure fantasy” by the administration, which released comments earlier this week stating that he was in good condition and on a private visit to Geneva.

Paul Atanga Nji, the interior minister, stated that talking about the president’s health was a matter of national security in a letter to regional governors dated October 9.

“Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to have any discussion about the president’s condition in the media going forward.” The whole weight of the law would be applied to offenders, Nji stated.

He gave the governors orders to form teams to keep an eye on social media and private media broadcasts.

If Biya passed away or was too sick to hold office, the oil- and cocoa-producing nation of Cameroon—which has only had two presidents since gaining independence from France and Britain in the early 1960s—would probably be faced with a difficult succession situation.

The National Communication Council, Cameroon’s media regulator, could not be reached for comment at this time. Many criticised the action as an example of state censorship.

“The president is elected by Cameroonians and it’s just normal that they worry about his whereabouts,” said Hycenth Chia, a Yaounde-based journalist and talk show host on privately owned television Canal2 International.

“We see liberal discussions on the health of Joe Biden and other world leaders, but here it is a taboo,” he told Reuters.

Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocacy group for press freedom, expressed its deep concern.

“Trying to hide behind national security on such a major issue of national importance is outrageous,” said Angela Quintal, head of the CPJ’s Africa Program.

Since early September, when Biya attended a China-Africa summit in Beijing, she has not been sighted in public. His absence at a summit in France last weekend, which was scheduled, fuelled even more public speculation about his health.

President Biya is one of several long-serving African leaders, including Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who has been in office since 1982, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame is also gradually evolving into the group.

On Friday, Kenya’s top court decided to forward a petition contesting the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to the Chief Justice.

The impeachment of Gachagua on 11 accusations, including inciting ethnic hate and profiting himself, was decided by the Kenyan parliament on Tuesday. The deputy president declared that the matter was frivolous and refuted all of the accusations.

Next Monday, the Senate will discuss the allegations and decide whether to remove him. According to court records reviewed by Reuters, Gachagua has stated that the impeachment motion was founded on lies and amounted to a “choreographed political lynching”.

Citing the strong public interest in the issue, Justice Lawrence Mugambi urged the chief justice to form a panel of three judges to review Gachagua’s appeal.

The deputy president’s falling out with President William Ruto, whom he supported in an election in 2022, became apparent during this year’s deadly protests against proposed tax hikes and rising living expenses.

Many members of Ruto’s coalition were incensed by Gachagua’s comparison of the government to a business and his implication that coalition supporters should have priority over other candidates for public sector employment and development initiatives.

Citing the remarks, the impeachment motion describes them as “highly inflammatory.”

Regarding the impeachment process, Ruto has not made any public statements.

Kenyans are divided on the move to impeach Gachagua; some believe parliament should concentrate on economic issues rather than political ones, while others want both Ruto and his deputy to go.