World’s Oldest President Paul Biya Secures Eight Term in Office
Emmanuel Eze
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has been re-elected for an eighth term that could keep him in office until he is nearly 100, according to official results announced on Monday by the Central African country’s Constitutional Council.
“Hereby proclaimed President-elect: the candidate Biya Paul,” said Clement Atangana, president of the Constitutional Council.
Biya, 92, took office in 1982 and has held a tight grip on power ever since, doing away with the presidential term limit in 2008 and winning reelection by comfortable margins.
This year his strongest challenge came from Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a former government spokesperson and employment minister in his late 70s who broke ranks with Biya earlier this year and mounted a campaign that drew large crowds and endorsements from a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups.
Biya got 53.7% of the vote compared to the 35.2% of his main challenger Issa Tchiroma Bakary. The world’s oldest head of state, will now serve an eighth consecutive term since coming to power in 1982
Tchiroma Bakary had earlier claimed victory, saying the Constitutional Council will announce a tainted result. He and his supporters accuse the president of electoral fraud and gross irregularities.
As a result, there has been fears of unrest in the country as growing frustrations have triggered nationwide protests, which so far have killed at least four people, the authorities say.
Most of the protesters backed Tchiroma Bakary’s claim of victory. The government said the protests were illegal, and the police went on to arrest several opposition leaders and activists.
