Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has been re-elected for an eighth term, a victory that could see him remain in power until he is nearly 100 years old.
This is according to official results announced on Monday by the country’s Constitutional Council.
“Hereby proclaimed President-elect: the candidate Biya Paul,” said Clement Atangana, president of the Constitutional Council.
According to results announced on Monday by the Constitutional Council, Biya, who is 92 years old, secured 53.66% of the votes, defeating his main challenger, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who garnered 35.19%. The election was held on October 12, 2025, amid widespread reports of low voter turnout and growing calls for political change.
The latest victory means Biya, one of the world’s oldest and longest-serving leaders, will continue to govern Cameroon for another seven-year term, extending a presidency that began in 1982.
Who is Paul Biya?
Biya is Africa’s oldest head of state and the continent’s second longest-serving, narrowly beaten to that record by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of neighbouring Equatorial Guinea.
Biya rose to power in 1982, succeeding his mentor and predecessor, Ahmadou Ahidjo, with promises of liberal reforms and democratic renewal. However, over the years, he gradually consolidated power, tightening his grip on the presidency.
Since narrowly winning the 1992 presidential election, Biya has effectively fended off all subsequent political challenges — aided, in part, by alleged electoral manipulation and the persistent disunity among a fragmented and often disorganized opposition.
According to the BBC, supporters of the long-serving leader credit him with several achievements, including the expansion of schools and public universities across Cameroon and his diplomatic handling of the Bakassi Peninsula dispute, which ultimately saw the oil-rich territory peacefully transferred from Nigeria to Cameroon.
According to the BBC, under Biya’s leadership, Cameroon has been mired in a violent separatist insurgency in its English-speaking regions for nearly a decade. Meanwhile, youth unemployment has soared to about 40%, infrastructure such as roads and hospitals continues to deteriorate, and freedom of speech remains more an ideal than a reality.
Biya is only the second head of state to lead Cameroon since its independence from France in 1960.
Opposition rejects Biya’s victory
Since last week, supporters of Issa Tchiroma, who, according to his own tally, won 54.8 percent of the votes against 31.3 percent for Biya, have taken to the streets to defend his claimed victory.
Hundreds of opposition supporters barricaded roads and burned tyres in Cameroon’s commercial capital on Sunday, as protests intensified a day before the announcement of presidential election results.
Police fired teargas and water cannon to break up the crowds of supporters of opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma.
