Paul Biya seeks 8th term as Cameroon holds Presidential elections

By Mark Ogagan

Africa’s second-longest-serving leader, Paul Biya of Cameroon, 92, is seeking an unprecedented eighth term in office as the country holds presidential elections on Sunday, October 12, 2025.

Under Biya’s 43-year rule, Cameroon has struggled with myriad challenges, including chronic corruption and resulting poor economic growth, despite being rich in resources such as oil and cocoa.

Biya, who has managed to clinch dodgy landslide wins in heavily contested elections held every seven years, is renowned for his absenteeism, as he reportedly spends extended periods away from the country.

He and his entourage are often away, on private or medical treatment trips to Switzerland, with a media investigation in 2018 finding that Biya had spent an estimated 1,645 days (nearly four and a half years) in the European country – excluding official visits – since being in power.

The cocoa and oil-producing Central African country has been beset by economic challenges in recent years, including the rising cost of food, high rate of youth unemployment, armed attacks in the far north and secessionist conflicts in the country’s southern Anglophone regions.

Some 8.2 million people aged 20 and above are eligible to vote, although voter apathy is on the rise. Many people question the point of voting in a system they believe is rigged in favour of the governing party.

A total of 12 candidates are contesting Sunday’s election, and the winner requires a simple majority to win.

Besides Biya, other notable candidates include:

Akere Muna –  A barrister, 73, running as the candidate for the Univers Party.

Cabral Libii – Journalist, 45, running as a candidate for the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN).

Joshua Osih – Anglophone politician, 56, running for the Social Democratic Front party.

Hermine Patricia Toimaino Ndam Njoya – Female parliamentarian and mayor of Foumban, 56, candidate for the Democratic Union of Cameroon party.

Bello Bouba Maigari – Candidate for the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP), 78 years old.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary –  Former Minister of Employment, 76, candidate for the Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon.

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