quality:corruption, structural:reformatting, structural:expansion
Personal life

Biya became a naturalized citizen of France when he studied there, but he later relinquished his French citizenship when he returned to Cameroon to serve in government positions.

In 1961, he married Jeanne-Irène Biya, who did not have any children, though she adopted Franck Biya, who had been born in 1971 from a relationship between Biya and Jeanne-Irène's sister or niece. Franck Biya is seen as a possible successor of his father in the context of presidential elections scheduled for 2025.

Jeanne-Irène Biya died on 29 July 1992 after a short illness while Paul Biya was attending a conference abroad. Rumors have it that she and several people close to her did not die of natural causes.

Paul Biya married Chantal Vigouroux, who is 36 years his junior, on 23 April 1994, and has two more children with her : Paul Jr and Brenda Biya.

Brenda Biya, who is also a LGBTQ activist, publicly revealed her same-sex relationship with Brazilian model Layyons Valença on 5 July 2024. She later stated that she hoped the post would change anti-LGBT laws in Cameroon. However, she deleted the post and broke up with Valença after explicit photos of them were released without her consent on the Internet. She reportedly accused Valença of sharing the photos "for the attention of social media followers and even extort money" on TikTok.