could stay in office till 100 years if clinches victory in October election
Paul Biya, the 92-year-old Cameroonian President and the world’s oldest head of state, has declared his intention to run for an unprecedented eighth term in the country’s presidential election slated for October 12 this year.
If Biya, who announced his intention via X on Sunday, clinches victory in the October election, he will be nearly 100 years old.
So far, he has spent 43 years on the throne, having assumed power in 1982, upon the resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo, his predecessor.
He wrote on his X: “I am a candidate in the presidential election,” he wrote. “Rest assured that my determination to serve you matches the urgency of the challenges we face.”
His health is the subject of frequent speculation, most recently last year when he disappeared from public view for 42 days. His re-election bid had been widely anticipated but not formally confirmed until Sunday’s social media post.
Biya had been posting regularly on his verified X handle in the buildup to the announcement.
In 2018, for the first time, he also used social media to announce his candidacy for that year’s presidential contest, marking a rare direct engagement with the public on digital platforms.
Members of the governing Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) and other supporters have publicly called for Biya to seek another term since last year.
But opposition parties and some civil society groups argue his long rule has stifled economic and democratic development. Two former allies have quit the governing coalition and announced plans to run in the election separately.
“President Biya’s announcement to run again is a clear sign of Cameroon’s stalled political transition. After over 40 years in power, what the country needs is renewal, not repetition. Cameroonians deserve democratic change and accountable leadership,” Nkongho Felix Agbor, a human rights advocate and lawyer, told The Associated Press news agency.
Sunday’s announcement is sure to revive debate over Biya’s fitness for office. He seldom makes public appearances, often delegating responsibilities to the powerful chief of staff of the president’s office.
Last October, he returned to Cameroon after a 42-day absence, which had sparked speculation he was unwell. The government claimed he was fine but banned any discussion of his health, saying it was a matter of national security.
Biya scrapped term limits in 2008, clearing the way for him to run for an indefinite number of terms. He won the 2018 election with 71.28% of the vote, although opposition parties alleged widespread irregularities.
The cocoa- and oil-producing Central African nation, which has had just two presidents since its independence from France and the United Kingdom in the early 1960s, is likely to face a messy succession crisis if Biya were to become too ill to remain in office or pass away.
Besides Biya, several opposition figures have also declared their intention to run, including Maurice Kamto, the 2018 runner-up of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement; Joshua Osih of the Social Democratic Front; lawyer Akere Muna; and Cabral Libii of the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation.
All have criticised Biya’s long period as head of state and called for reforms to ensure a fair vote in 2025.
Under Biya, Cameroon has faced economic challenges and insecurity on several fronts, including a drawn-out separatist conflict in its English-speaking regions and ongoing incursions from the Boko Haram armed group in the north.
