The 92-year-old President Paul Biya of Cameroon announced on Sunday evening that he will participate in the presidential elections in October for the eighth time. Biya has been the president of the country in central Africa since 1982. He is the oldest head of state in the world.
Biya announced his candidacy on X. “Together we can overcome all challenges,” he writes. He had previously spoken about a new term, but now it is official.
A presidential term in Cameroon lasts seven years. If Biya is re-elected, he will be almost 100 years old at the end of his term. Furthermore, he has been in power for 43 years and only the second president of Cameroon since the country became independent from France in 1960.
In recent weeks, political tensions have risen and there has been much speculation about whether Biya would run again. There is doubt among the population about his health. The president is regularly ill or stays abroad. After not appearing in public for weeks last year, media were forbidden to talk about his health.
In addition to the title of the oldest head of state in the world, Biya is the second longest-serving non-royal leader of a country. He is also the second longest-ruling president of Africa. Both of those titles currently belong to Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea. He became president three weeks earlier than Biya in 1982.