92-Year-Old President Paul Biya Announces Another Bid for Reelection Despite Health Concerns

• Cameroon’s ageing leader launches reelection bid despite health concerns
• President Paul Biya, 92, seeks to extend his 43-year grip on power with a fresh seven-year term as opposition forces remain deeply fragmented
• His declaration follows months of speculation over his health and renewed criticism of his government’s rights record

Cameroon’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya has formally declared his intention to seek an eighth term in office, extending his nearly 43-year rule over the Central African nation.

The announcement, made on Sunday, confirmed months of speculation and could see Biya remain in power until almost his 100th birthday.

In a statement, Biya said: “Much remains to be done. The best is yet to come.” He added that his decision to run again was in response to “urgent appeals coming from the 10 regions of our country and from the diaspora.”

Biya’s bid for a fresh seven-year term

The presidential election is scheduled for October, with Biya aiming for a fresh seven-year mandate. His reelection bid comes despite persistent concerns about his health, which have intensified following a prolonged absence from public view last year.

The Cameroonian government later banned media discussions about his health, citing national security concerns.

Biya has rarely appeared in public in recent years, fuelling speculation about his wellbeing. Nonetheless, he has continued to maintain a firm grip on power, securing multiple reelection victories, some by overwhelming margins.

Longest-serving leader faces fragmented opposition

Biya first assumed office in 1982 and has since become one of the world’s longest-serving heads of state, excluding monarchs. He is only the second president to lead Cameroon since its independence from France and Britain in the early 1960s.

While many local leaders have urged Biya to seek a new mandate, cracks have emerged within his ruling coalition.

Several allies have resigned from government positions and launched their own presidential campaigns.

Political analyst Collins Molua Ikome, based in Germany, told CNN that Cameroon’s opposition remains too fragmented to pose a serious challenge to Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM). “They don’t stand a chance as individual candidates. If they form a transitional coalition then maybe they might,” Ikome said.

Efforts to form such a coalition have faced resistance. In March last year, a proposed alliance between two opposition parties was declared illegal by the interior ministry, a move Human Rights Watch described as “part of a government crackdown on opposition and dissent.”

Human rights concerns shadow Biya’s legacy

Biya’s extended rule has been accompanied by widespread allegations of human rights abuses. Amnesty International has accused his government of “extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions, torture… unfair trials, and persecution and imprisonment of people for their real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Despite mounting criticism and calls for political renewal, Biya’s campaign slogan, “The best is yet to come”, signals his intent to continue steering Cameroon through its challenges, with no indication of stepping aside.

Paul Biya, Cameroon's wily veteran leader

Legit.ng earlier reported that When Paul Biya first took the helm of Cameroon, Ronald Reagan was in his second year of presidency, Madonna had not yet made the charts and the Soviet Union was still nearly a decade away from break-up.

Biya, who at 89 will notch up 40 years in power on Sunday, became one of the world's longest-serving leaders thanks to iron-fisted rule and support from loyalists in key positions.

After seven years as the central African country's prime minister, he entered the presidential palace on November 6, 1982, becoming only the second head of state since independence from France in 1960.

Source: Legit.ng