Breaking: Geneva Hotel Receipt Points to Lavish Spend by Biya Entourage

What happened:
The invoice, dated 22 September 2025 and labeled “Receipt #MOG0455846”, lists luxury suites, VIP cars, and service charges totaling CHF 34,607. Mobile captures of the receipt show the name Mvondo Ayolo, chief of staff and longtime gatekeeper to President Paul Biya.

Where and when:
The expenses were incurred at the Mandarin Oriental Geneva, a five-star hotel about three kilometers from Biya’s usual residence at the InterContinental Genève. The timing coincides with Biya’s arrival in Switzerland after a reported chartered flight out of Yaoundé last weekend.

Who is involved:
Ayolo is a powerful aide to President Paul Biya, who at 92 has ruled Cameroon since 1982. His delegation has repeatedly drawn scrutiny for costly stays abroad. Independent researchers estimate Biya has spent at least 4.5 years of his presidency on “private visits”, mainly in Geneva.

How much was spent:
Breakdown of the leaked invoice:

Conversion used: 1 CHF ≈ 702 CFA.

Why it matters:
The sum spent in one evening could finance basic public services at home: CFA 12.5m would cover 25,000 pediatric malaria treatments; CFA 6.8m could supply a district hospital’s drugs for a month. “Millions that could change lives were burned on one night of opulence,” one Cameroonian reader told Cameroon Concord.

The bigger picture:
Biya’s long absences and Swiss stays have long sparked anger in Cameroon. In 2019, six of his staff were convicted in Geneva for assaulting a TV journalist outside the InterContinental. In May 2025, his daughter Brenda Biya was convicted of defamation in Geneva, exposing details of the family’s year-round hotel occupation.

At home in Cameroon:
The revelations contrast sharply with Cameroon’s realities: collapsing hospitals, unsafe roads, chronic youth unemployment, and mass emigration. Public frustration is rising as ruling-party surrogates campaign for Biya’s re-election, urging “continuity” while the presidency spends lavishly abroad.

Political impact:
The leaked invoice adds to perceptions that Geneva has become an offshore capital for the Biya regime. Critics say the spending is an insult to ordinary Cameroonians told to accept austerity while their leaders indulge in European luxury.