Le Monde alters Biya's health story

French newspaper, Le Monde, has toned down its story that authoritatively stated that President Paul Biya, 82, is suffering from prostate cancer, a story The Cameroon Journal published.

In a retraction, March 14, the online publication removed the reports stating that Biya has “prostate cancer” and other details including a claim that the presidential couple own a home in Neuilly, France, that their two children attend school in Geneva and that the first lady was to undergo a “reconstruction” cervical surgery.

It is not clear if the correction was upon the request of the presidential couple or if it was an internal editorial decision based on new findings or discovery of lapses in the original story.

When the story broke last Friday, the paper’s online edition said the president and his wife, Chantal, were using their “private visit” in Europe since March 2, to seek medical help for terminal ailments.

In the piece titled “Cameroon: The Presidential Couple Abroad and in Poor health”, Le Monde said Biya was hesitant to undergo an operation.

The paper stated also that the first lady was, for her part, at Neuilly in Paris, for a “reconstruction” surgery following a 2013 cervical surgery that kept her out of the country for many months.

It suggested that for confidentiality sake, Cameroonians working at the American Hospital where the first lady would be interned had been sent home for fear of leaks.

Le Monde said Biya was later traveling to be with his wife in France, where they would be staying at their “private residence” in Neuilly.

The original story said the two children from Paul and Chantal’s marriage were attending school in Geneva, where Biya was “conferred the status of honorary citizen a few years back and where he spends more than half the year” at the luxurious Intercontinental Hotel, not far from UN offices.

But in its modified version, with the title “Cameroon: The Presidential Couple is in Geneva and on Medical Checkups”, Le Monde simply said the kids had attended school there and their daughter Brenda Anastasie stopped by the previous week, before proceeding to the United States where she is now pursuing her studies.

In further corrections, Le Monde, which in its original story was categorical that the president’s prostate ailment was the reason for his present stay abroad, now says he is in Geneva for “family reasons and for medical consultations.”

From its categorical claim that the presidential couple had gone separate ways, Paul to Geneva and Chantal to France, Le Monde now reports in the conditional. It says after they both checked into Intercontinental, “Chantal seems to have used the opportunity to swing over to France.”

Still sounding unsure, the paper says the first lady was spotted in Lyon, France on March 10, alighting from a train coming from Geneva, Switzerland. It says she went to the American Hospital in Neuilly for follow up checks after a 2013 surgery.

Further casting doubts on the credibility of its original story, Le Monde wonders: “Did she return to her husband in Geneva the same day, or did she stay in Paris at the Maillot Villa in Neuilly-sur-Seine which the presidential couple uses?” This casts doubts on original claims that they own the villa.

Continuing in its reverted cautious reporting on the whereabouts of the first lady, Le Monde says, “There are divergent versions, some saying they saw her on the shores of Leman [Lake Geneva -Ed] on Thursday, March 12, others affirming that she left Neuilly since March 10.” Both versions imply she is not in France, though Le Monde had claimed in its original story that she was still in France.

The paper maintains its claim, though, that Biya is hesitating to submit himself to surgery against the advice of his doctors.