Cameroon President Paul Biya wants to run again at the age of 92

The world’s oldest president, Cameroon Head of State Paul Biya, faces election for an eighth term at 92. “The best thing is still coming,” it said in a corresponding message on his page at the online platform X. “Be assured that my determination to serve them is the urgency of the challenges that we are facing.”

Biya is the oldest acting head of state in the world. He came to power in the Central African country in 1982 after his predecessor Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned. Before that, he has been prime minister since 1975.

Longer than BIYA, only the dictator in Kamerun’s neighboring country Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is in office. The 83-year-old crushed to power in 1979 and has been officially president since 1982.

Biya and his wife Chantal spend a lot of time in Switzerland. His state of health is always the subject of speculation. So he could not be seen in public for 42 days last year. However, speculation about the president’s state of health was banned in Cameroon last year.

The country is elected in the country with almost 30 million inhabitants, half of whom is younger than 19, on October 12th. Formally, Cameroon is a multi -party democracy. Opposition and civil society as well as freedom of expression and press are severely restricted. The opposition criticizes the elections as manipulated. According to the official results, Biya received 71 percent of the vote, the runner -up 14 percent.

Cameroon was once a German colony, after the First World War the country was divided between France and Great Britain. There has been a bloody conflict between the French -speaking majority and the country’s English -speaking regions since around 2017, in which at least 6,500 people were killed and another 600,000 sold. It is estimated that around 40 percent of the residents of Cameroon live in poverty.