In Cameroon elections, anyone but the 42-year Biya regime

That question is no longer hypothetical for the 29 million people of Cameroon, a country at the heart of Africa that has been ruled for the past 42 years by a single man: Paul Biya, the world’s oldest president at 92.

Biya is seeking an eighth, seven-year term. To call him a fixture in Cameroonian politics is an understatement — he is only the second president the country has had since gaining independence from France and Britain in the 1960s.

The October 12 race pits Biya against 11 challengers, though past elections have been dogged by allegations of fraud and irregularities widely seen as designed to keep him in power. For many Cameroonians, that has eroded faith in the system.

“People don't trust the process,” said Tony Vinyoh, a Cameroonian journalist, in an interview with Global South World. “I’ve talked to some parents, and they don't even want to register their kids.”

Then there’s the elephant in the room that is Biya’s health. Last year, the ageing president vanished from public view for 42 days, sparking debate over whether he remains fit to lead a nation grappling with an armed insurgency and lagging behind many of its African neighbours in development.

For many Cameroonians, the solution is simple: change. Any change.

“There's a sense among the general population that anybody who comes next will be better,” Vinyoh said. “We want change, and we don't care who gets to lead the country.”

Stasis and stagnation

In more than four decades in power, Biya has survived attempted coups, Boko Haram attacks, and the ongoing conflict between Cameroon’s French- and English-speaking regions, a crisis that traces back to the country’s colonial past.

But his government has struggled to resolve many of Cameroon’s most pressing problems. The country’s poverty rate has barely budged in 20 years, with four in ten Cameroonians still living below the poverty line. Economic growth is slowing, leaving households struggling with rising food prices.

For a country known as an agricultural producer, Cameroon is also increasingly dependent on imports. In 2021, food imports made up nearly a quarter of consumption, and rice imports alone accounted for an astonishing 75%.

Vinyoh said this sense of stagnation has left many Cameroonians feeling left behind.

“Cameroonians are scared that they are getting left behind while the rest of the world is moving forward, advancing in infrastructure, technology, trade, and opening up to other African countries,” he said. 

Biya’s hands-off approach to governance has done little to ease those fears. The president rarely convenes his cabinet; during his current term, there was a period of nearly three years without a single cabinet meeting.

But perhaps the most intractable problem in Cameroon is corruption, a force arguably more enduring than Biya himself. In 2024, Cameroon ranked 140th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, making it one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

“I wish there was a better way to describe it,” Vinyoh said, “but corruption is just part of Cameroonian life.”

The man and the myth

Cameroon is a young country: more than 60 per cent of its population is under 25. Many have never known life without Biya in control, a fact that fuels speculation about what might follow his eventual departure.

For Vinyoh, this and Biya’s elusive nature have contributed to his mythology among Cameroonians.

“He’s a bit of a god,” the journalist said. “You don’t get to see and meet the man.”

“I think people don't give him enough credit. He's a very brilliant man. He's smart. You don't stay in power for 50 years if you're not a very smart man,” he said. “He's good at knocking heads together.”

Now the pressure is on for the opposition to break that myth, and for Biya to prove that he is still capable of leading a nation on edge.

Observers say the opposition’s best chance lies in uniting behind a single candidate, but so far it has failed to do so. On September 13, opposition parties were expected to announce a consensus candidate, but the effort collapsed.

The opposition has also been weakened by the exclusion of Maurice Kamto, widely seen as Biya’s strongest rival. Barred due to alleged irregularities in party nominations, Kamto is now urging the remaining opposition parties to unite behind one contender.

“That shows you just how divided the opposition is,” Vinyoh said. “They have not been able to sit down and vote. They don't talk among themselves, that's a uniquely Cameroonian thing.”

The October 12 election could decide whether Biya’s 42-year grip on power remains unbroken, or whether a splintered opposition can finally shatter it. For many Cameroonians, however, the stakes go far beyond politics.

“People are worried about the state of their roads, the standards of education. There are parents who are worried about feeding their kids and sending them to school. They are worried about the training they will get in university and whether the training will be useful,” Vinyoh said.

“It's a country that's worried about its future.”