President Paul Biya of Cameroon has announced that he will seek an eight-term in office in the general elections scheduled for October 12 this year.
The 92-year-old announced his intention to seek re-election via a statement on his official X account.
“I am a candidate for the 12 October 2025 presidential election. Rest assured that my determination to serve you is commensurate with the serious challenges facing us. Together, there are no challenges we cannot meet. The best is still to come,” he stated.
Biya explained that he decided to run once again after numerous and insistent calls by people from all regions in Cameroon and the diaspora.
The Cameroonian president has been in power for 43 years, since 1982, and has never lost an election. Should he win another seven-year term, President Biya could be president until he is nearly 100.
Biya’s tenure has been marked by a litany of challenges, including an armed conflict in the Anglophone regions of the country, which has killed more than 6,000 people for nearly a decade now.
While his supporters often credit him with maintaining stability, critics argue that his decades-long rule has stifled economic growth, democratic freedoms, and good governance.
Concerns about Biya’s health have also persisted, especially after he disappeared from the public eye for 42 days in 2024, fueling widespread speculation about his ability to lead.
President Biya is set to face prominent opposition figures who have thrown their hats into the ring ahead of the October vote.
This includes Maurice Kamto of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), Social Democratic Front (SDF) leader Joshua Osih, lawyer and anti-corruption advocate Akere Muna, and Cabral Libii of the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN).
