World's Oldest President Paul Biya Wins Cameroon Election

Cameroon’s long-time leader Paul Biya has been declared the winner of the October 12th presidential election, extending his 43-year rule despite widespread criticism and deadly protests.

The Constitutional Council announced that the 92-year-old, who has led the country since 1982, won 53.7% of the vote. His closest rival, former minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, came second with 35.2%. Biya, already the world’s oldest sitting president, is now set to stay in power until he is 99 if he completes his new term.

The result followed a tense weekend marked by violence. At least four protesters were killed and over a hundred people have been arrested in Douala and other cities as opposition supporters demanded what they called “credible results.” Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral Region, confirmed that several security officers were also injured during the unrest. Videos shared online showed crowds blocking roads as police fired tear gas to disperse them.

Tensions had been building even before election day. Out of 83 hopefuls, only 12 were allowed to run, with key opposition figures, including Maurice Kamto of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, disqualified from running. Critics said this was part of a broader effort by Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement to tighten its grip on power. Opposition parties accused the government of using “state machinery” to manipulate the vote, while human rights groups described the election as neither free nor fair.

Biya’s advanced age and frequent absences — including a recent stay in Switzerland for undisclosed reasons — have raised growing questions about who might lead the country if he dies in office. Under Cameroon’s constitution, the Senate president would take over temporarily, but the current holder of that post, Marcel Niat Njifenji, is 91 and also in poor health.

In his only campaign rally, held a few days before the election, Biya promised to create jobs, boost entrepreneurship, and strengthen security. Around 40% of Cameroonians live in poverty, while large parts of the north face attacks from extremist groups and the Anglophone regions in the west continue to reel from a separatist conflict that has claimed more than 6,000 lives since 2017.

Political analyst Victor Julius Ngoh of the University of Buea said Biya’s long rule has been marked by “a succession of corruption scandals” and a lack of accountability. Still, with much of the opposition silenced or excluded, Biya remains firmly in control.

He will be inaugurated in Yaoundé on November 6th, beginning his eighth term as president — and showing no sign of stepping aside, even as Cameroonians face deepening frustration, conflict, and calls for change.