Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, 92, has announced he will run for another seven-year term in October, despite growing frustration among many citizens and calls for him to step down, The Guardian reports.
Biya has been in power since 1982. On 13 July, he confirmed his candidacy on social media, writing, “Together, there are no challenges we cannot meet. The best is still to come.”
The well-being of our youth and women will be at the heart of my priorities. Together, there are no challenges we cannot meet.
The best is still to come. #Biya2025 #PaulBiya#Cameroon pic.twitter.com/FfrRzUzVRF
— President Paul BIYA (@PR_Paul_BIYA) July 18, 2025
But in a country where the median age is just 18 and many struggle to find work, some say the president’s time is over.
“Papa, you have done your best. Can you not leave for another Cameroonian to take over?” asked Christopher Nkong, secretary general of the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC).
MRC’s candidate, Maurice Kamto, hopes to rally young and undecided voters. But mistrust in the electoral system runs deep. Cameroon’s electoral body, Elections Cameroon, is supervised by a senior official loyal to Biya and includes several ruling party members.
“Everybody is feeling the pinch of mismanagement, embezzlement, non-development, low standards of living, and poverty,” Nkong said. “But to uproot a dictator is not a day’s job.”
Biya’s rule has seen voter turnout fall steadily. Only 53.3 per cent of registered voters cast their ballots in 2018, compared to more than 80 per cent in earlier elections.
Despite having one of the best-performing economies in central Africa, many people live in poverty, with a third of the population surviving on less than $2 a day. According to a national survey, 80% of workers are informally employed.
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“We stopped relying on the government for anything years ago,” said André Ouandji, a 27-year-old motorcycle taxi driver in Douala, who is unsure whether he will vote.
A growing number of young people feel disconnected from the political process. Serge, an 18-year-old student, told The Guardian: “My dream was to be a lawyer, but you need connections. I settled for becoming a teacher because it’s easier.”
The election is scheduled just after the anniversary of the declaration of independence by Anglophone separatists in western Cameroon, raising concerns about security. In 2018, several people, including a priest, were killed in clashes during the election weekend.
Two of Biya’s former ministers, Bello Bouba Maigari and Issa Tchiroma, resigned in June and announced they will run against him. “We are in misery,” Tchiroma said from his hometown of Garoua.
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Some political figures are pushing for reform. Léon Onana, a local councillor, has filed a case demanding the ruling party hold its first national congress since 2011. “We cannot remain in a party where everything revolves around a single individual,” he said.
Meanwhile, other opposition figures, such as Kah Walla, leader of the Cameroon People’s Party, say the elections cannot be fair under current conditions. “If I cannot hold a normal political meeting, then I cannot be a candidate,” she said. Her party will again boycott the vote.
Kamto was placed under house arrest shortly after a rally in Paris, and some supporters were detained. One witness told The Guardian, “The police, gendarme and military came.”
On social media, there is growing talk of a post-Biya future. MRC leaders are calling on young people to guard their votes like voters did in Senegal. Others say the country could see unrest similar to what happened in Gabon after disputed elections in 2023. “There will be no error in 2025,” said Nkong. “CPDM’s time has ended.”
