Cameroon’s long-ruling President Paul Biya, aged 92, has been re-elected for an eighth consecutive term in office, according to results released by the Constitutional Council on Monday. The announcement, which handed Biya 53.7 percent of the votes, has sparked widespread controversy and violent clashes in parts of the country.
Biya — the world’s oldest serving head of state and Cameroon’s second leader since gaining independence from France in 1960 — will now continue his more than four-decade hold on power.
The official declaration was made at the Yaoundé Conference Centre by the President of the Constitutional Council, Clement Atangana, on October 27, 2025. Opposition candidate and former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary finished second with 35.2 percent, according to the council’s final tally.
Tchiroma, however, had already claimed victory two days after the October 12 election, asserting that his camp’s independent count showed he had secured 54.8 percent of the votes against Biya’s 31.3 percent. He urged his supporters to stage peaceful protests ahead of the official results — demonstrations that were met with a heavy-handed response from security forces.
According to local authorities, at least four people were killed in violent clashes between protesters and security forces over the weekend in Garoua and other northern regions. Witnesses told AFP that security forces fired live ammunition after using tear gas to disperse demonstrators near a gendarmerie brigade.
“They fired, three people fell right in front of us,” one protester said anonymously, showing reporters bullet casings allegedly retrieved from the scene.
In Douala, Cameroon’s economic hub, Regional Governor Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua confirmed that demonstrators “attacked” security posts, leaving several officers injured.
Despite the unrest, analysts had widely predicted Biya’s victory, citing a deeply entrenched political system that critics say favors the ruling party and stifles dissent.
Biya’s rule, which began in 1982, has been marked by authoritarian control, allegations of electoral manipulation, and repeated crackdowns on opposition voices. His government continues to face challenges from separatist movements, economic inequality, and public frustration over decades of limited political reform.
As Biya prepares to embark on another seven-year term, many Cameroonians and international observers question whether the aging leader can bring stability and reform to a nation increasingly divided along political and regional lines.
