92-year-old Paul Biya re-elected as Cameroon’s President after 43 years in power

92-year-old Paul Biya re-elected as Cameroon’s President after 43 years in power

consistent with consequences introduced on Monday through the Constitutional Council, Biya secured fifty three.sixty six% of the votes, defeating his primary challenger Issa Tchiroma, who garnered 35.19%. The election used to be held on October 12, but professional effects were solely confirmed this week.

With this victory, Biya already the sector’s oldest serving head of nation, will maintain to guide Cameroon till 2032, when he may be ninety nine years vintage, without any constitutional or political changes.

no matter sturdy guide for Tchiroma amongst Cameroonian diaspora electorate, Biya’s dominance in the u . s . proved decisive. Tchiroma obtained sixty two.seventy nine% of the vote in Europe, 66.seventy five% in the Americas, and sixty eight.21% in Asia and the center East. across Africa, Tchiroma additionally led the diaspora vote with fifty four.ninety nine%, though greater than half of eligible voters overseas reportedly abstained.

The Constitutional Council clarified that the general winner is decided by using general nationwide votes, now not diaspora tallies.

Biya’s victory comes amid intensifying requires political transition in Cameroon, where critics have long accused his ruling Cameroon human beings’s Democratic movement (CPDM) of suppressing opposition and manipulating elections. The government, but, insists that the ballot was once unfastened, fair, and obvious.

pronouncing the outcomes, Clement Atangana, President of the Constitutional Council, declared:

“Hereby proclaimed President-go with: the candidate Biya Paul.”

Biya, who first assumed office in 1982, has maintained a good grip on electricity for greater than four many years. He abolished term limits in 2008, making sure his capacity to are searching for indefinite re-election.

His fundamental opponent this yr, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a former authorities spokesperson and employment minister, broke ranks with Biya earlier in 2025 to guide a huge opposition coalition, drawing huge crowds and exceptional endorsements.

Biya’s re-election cements his function as one of the longest-serving leaders in the international, continuing a legacy of political dominance that has described Cameroon’s put up-independence era.