The President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, has been defended by his own government for spending around £35,000 per day on a holiday in France as they say it his right. President Biya has booked 43 rooms in the L’Hermitage Barriere, a five-star resort on the west coast of France for his wife and himself and their entourage for 20 days while his countryman’s average wage is just £700 per year.

The cost that has been reported by the press in France does not take into account the massive spending in casinos and also the lavish shopping trips his wife, Chantal, has been making while staying in La Baule. Mr Biya and his party checked into the high-class hotel after a meeting with France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. The President of Cameroon has also been given the mayor’s medal from town officials in La Baule who said he was a great friend of the town.

According to newspapers in his home country there has been much dismay at the amount he is spending by the local people who put him in power. However the information minister of Cameroon said that it was his right to take a holiday to wherever he feels and whenever he wants as he is the President.