Cameroon’s 92-year-old President, Paul Biya, has insisted that he is pressing ahead with his bid for an eighth term in office, despite criticism mounting from church leaders, political insiders, and even members of his own family urging him to step aside.
Announcing his candidacy, Biya said he was responding to the “numerous and insistent” calls from citizens to remain in power.
But this year’s election season has been marked by rare public appeals for him to retire after more than four decades in office.
Catholic Archbishop Samuel Kleda was among the first to openly challenge the aging leader, telling French radio on Christmas 2024 that it was “not realistic” for Biya to continue governing, according to Reuters.
The priest’s comments were soon followed by the resignation of two cabinet ministers from the country’s influential northern regions, both of whom cited concerns about Biya’s capacity to lead.
In perhaps the most sensational challenge yet, Biya’s 27-year-old daughter, Brenda Biya, said in a TikTok video in September that her father “has made too many people suffer” and urged voters to “choose change.”
Though she later deleted the post and apologised, the clip continues to circulate widely, fueling debate about the future of Cameroon’s leadership.
Despite these internal and external pressures, analysts say Biya remains the overwhelming favourite when the Central African nation, one of the world’s top cocoa producers, heads to the polls on October 12.
“He has managed to enforce loyalty to him and the system,” Arrey Ntui, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, was quoted as saying.
“Very few people in the ruling elite are willing to put their heads above the parapet. When it comes to the president, there is no more independent thinking.”
Biya, who first assumed power in 1982 after succeeding his mentor Ahmadou Ahidjo, has survived a coup attempt, economic crises, and multiple opposition challenges.
He scrapped term limits in 2008, paving the way for his continued rule, and won re-elections in 2011 and 2018 amid allegations of vote rigging and intimidation.
Speculation about his health intensified last year when he vanished from public view for 42 days.
The government dismissed such concerns as “pure fantasy” but simultaneously banned public discussion of the president’s condition.
Meanwhile, ordinary Cameroonians continue to struggle with unreliable electricity, poor roads, and inadequate access to water and healthcare.
Biya’s strongest rival, Maurice Kamto, was in July barred from running this year after a court ruled his party’s nomination invalid.
Human Rights Watch called the decision “deeply troubling” and said it “raises concerns about the credibility of the electoral process.”
Kamto, who was detained after contesting the 2018 results, remains a symbol of Cameroon’s stifled opposition.
“Fear of arrest has become a tool of governance,” said Raoul Sumo Tayo of the Institute for Security Studies.
“People stay silent because everyone wants to live—and that silence keeps the regime strong.”
If Biya wins on October 12, he will extend his rule into a fifth decade, further cementing his status as the world’s oldest and one of its longest-serving heads of state.
