89-year-old President of Cameroon Paul Biya recently had an embarrassing moment of forgetfulness at the US Africa Leadership Summit in Washington DC.
In a video captured during the Summit, the President, now Africa’s oldest Head of State, appears to be in a state of confusion during his address.
While sitting on a panel alone facing a crowd, he asked what all the people in the room were doing there.
He, however, seemed to be oblivious to the fact that his microphone was on as he enquired.
“Wow. So I have become a celebrity?” he asked.
He further asks what all those people had gathered before him, saying that he had not asked for that.
A man who appears to be his aide-de-camp, according to Africa Facts Zone, tries to explain to him that he is at an International Summit and it is his time to speak.
“Are there important personalities amongst them?” Biya asks.
“Yes. President Kagame just spoke and it is your turn. You have the microphone,” the man replies.
He also tells him there are ministers in the room and he has already been introduced to speak.
“Okay you mean I should now speak? Where?” he asks as his aide replies that he can do it while sitting down to which Biya asks why.
President Biya is then seen looking through what appears to be his speech as his aide tells him that everyone is waiting for him to speak.
“Is there no one to coordinate this?” he asks in further confusion.
In 2022, Biya marked 40 years in power and is one of the longest-serving heads of state in Africa.
His opponents have been calling on him to step down and hand over power to a younger generation.
