A video has emerged of how Cameroon President Paul Biya completely lost his feet and went tumbling to the ground alongside his wife Chantal.
The 88 year old president was seen collapsing during the opening ceremony of the Africa Cup of Nations that was held on January 9th at the vast New 60,000-seat Olembe Stadium in Yaounde.
Biya, and the first lady Chantal Biya had left their seats to applaud a great performance by Congolese rumba star Fally Ipupa only for the oldest Head of State in Africa to collapse on resuming his seat.
Perhaps not to attract more attention, Shantal appeared a little bit unmoved and continued to clap her hands as presidential aides helped Biya back to his seat.
Paul Biya is the second longest serving president in Africa and has been in power since November 1982, a cool 40 years.
He presides over a linguistically divided country in which the English-speaking (Anglophone) regions want autonomy and have been waging an independence battle against the government since 2016.
Biya married Shantal, 37 years younger, in 1994 following the death of former first lady, Jeane Irene Biya.
The AFCON 2021 anthem was performed by Africa Smile and room was made for dance performances representing major Cameroonian cultural groups.
The opening ceremony at Olembé Stadium was presented in five acts, with the first dedicated to "the awakening of Cameroonian nature" through the richness and diversity of its landscapes.
The second represented a mosaic of colors, while Act 3 celebrated Cameroon, the welcoming land. Acts 4 and 5 respectively evoked the celebration of the competition and the final concert. The spectacle preceded the opening match between Cameroon and Burkina Faso.