By Peter Dansu Paul Biya, the 92-year-old President of Cameroon and the world’s oldest sitting head of state, has officially announced his...
By Peter Dansu
Paul Biya, the 92-year-old President of Cameroon and the world’s oldest sitting head of state, has officially announced his intention to run for an eighth term in office.
The announcement was made on Sunday, July 13, via his official X (formerly Twitter) account. “I am a candidate in the presidential election,” Biya posted. “Rest assured that my determination to serve you matches the urgency of the challenges we face.”
Biya has been in power since 1982, after the resignation of his predecessor, Ahmadou Ahidjo. In 2008, he removed constitutional term limits, effectively allowing himself to run indefinitely.
If re-elected, Biya could remain in power until nearly 100 years old. His decision, while long speculated, was not officially confirmed until the weekend post. In the lead-up to the announcement, he had been active on his verified X account, signaling something was on the horizon.
His bid is expected to stir renewed debate about his age and health. Biya rarely appears in public and often delegates major responsibilities to his influential chief of staff. Concerns about his health intensified last year when he vanished from public view for 42 days. Upon his return, the government insisted he was well but barred any public discussion about his health, declaring it a matter of national security.
During his decades in power, Cameroon has faced persistent economic struggles and widespread insecurity, including ongoing unrest in its Anglophone regions.
With this declaration, Biya once again positions himself at the center of a political landscape he has dominated for over four decades.
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