Biya is world's oldest serving president

14/7/2025 6:09

Cameroon's President Paul

Biya, the world's oldest serving head of state at 92, will run

for re-election in this year's presidential vote on October 12,

a post on the president's X account said on Sunday.



"I am a candidate in the presidential election. Rest

assured that my determination to serve you matches the urgency

of the challenges we face," the post on the official account

said.

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 ruling 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 ruling coalition and announced

plans to separately run in the election.







HEALTH WORRIES



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

that 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% 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

Britain in the early 1960s, is likely to face a messy succession

crisis if Biya were to become too ill to remain in office or

dies.



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 criticized Biya's long rule 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 Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram in the north.