
Cameroon’s longtime leader, Paul Biya, is expected to extend his 43-year rule as voters head to the polls on Sunday for the presidential election. The 92-year-old, already the world’s oldest head of state, faces 11 divided opposition candidates in a race widely criticised for lacking credibility.
Biya, who first took office in 1982, has rarely been seen in public this year, fuelling renewed speculation about his health. His only major campaign appearance came this week in Maroua, where he told supporters, “My determination to serve you remains intact.” Despite expectations of a large turnout, only a few hundred attended.
The opposition’s most prominent figure, Maurice Kamto, who finished second in the 2018 election, was barred from running, deepening scepticism about the vote’s fairness. Many young voters, weary of decades of economic hardship and repression, say they have little faith in the process. “As long as the system remains in place, nothing will change,” said Theophile, a 24-year-old artist in Douala.
Biya has maintained power through a mix of political repression, regional alliances, and control of state institutions. He has consistently won elections with overwhelming margins, 93 per cent in 1997, 71 per cent in 2004, 78 per cent in 2011, and 71 per cent in 2018, figures observers say reflect manipulation more than popularity.
With nearly 40 per cent of Cameroonians living below the poverty line, frustration over high living costs, poor infrastructure, and a violent separatist conflict in the Anglophone regions looms large. Yet, despite discontent, widespread protest appears unlikely, leaving Biya, once again, firmly in control of Cameroon’s political future.