Cameroon's 92-year-old president seeks eighth term in office

Al Jazeera

4 days ago

Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, who is 92 years old, has announced plans to run for an eighth term in this year's presidential election on October 12.
Biya, who is the world's oldest serving head of state, made the announcement in posts on X on Sunday in both French and English.
'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.'
Biya, who is seeking a new term that could keep him in office until he is nearly 100, came to power more than four decades ago in 1982, when his predecessor, Ahmadou Ahidjo, resigned.
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, in a first, 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 since last year publicly called for Biya to seek another term.
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 separately run in the election.
'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 indefinitely. He won the 2018 election with 71.28 percent of the vote, though opposition parties alleged widespread irregularities.
The cocoa- and oil-producing Central African nation, which has had just two presidents since 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 die.
Besides Biya, several opposition figures have also declared their intention to run, including 2018 runner-up Maurice Kamto 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.