Cameroon: Why I’m seeking seventh term in office – Paul Biya

Paul Biya

It is no longer news that Cameroon President, Paul Biya has announced his intention to run for a re-election for a record seventh term.

Biya explained that he wants to contest again because the people urged him to do so.

“I am willing to respond positively to your overwhelming calls. I will stand as your candidate in the upcoming presidential election,” Biya said in a tweet on Friday.

The October 7 election comes amid separatist insurgency in the western English-speaking regions and dwindling economy.

Biya scrapped the Central African country’s term limits from the constitution in 2008.

He came to power in 1982 when his predecessor retired and a seventh term in office could see the 85-year-old rule into his 90s.

Only Equatorial Guinea’s President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled uninterrupted for a longer period.

Former Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe (1980 – 2017) and Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh (1994 – 2017) were ousted in 2017.