After 36 years as president, 85-year-old Paul Biya begins a fresh seven-year term

Cameroon president-elect Paul Biya, 85, is scheduled to take the oath of office on Tuesday, an official statement released by the National Assembly said on Monday.

“The swearing-in ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. local time at the National Assembly in the capital Yaounde,’’ the programme indicated.

On Monday, the final leg of preparations for the president’s inauguration was underway at the National Assembly.

Secretary-General of the party, Jean Nkuete, told newsmen that the ruling party, Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, is mobilising members and sympathisers to honour the official ceremony in a “special way.”

According to the Constitutional Council, 85-year-old Biya won the presidential poll in October.

A native of Cameroon’s south, Biya has been head of state since 1982 when he took over following the resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo who was in power since independence in 1960.

He rose rapidly as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s, serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982.

Biya, who has ruled virtually by decree since taking office, got rid of constitutional term limits in 2008, allowing him to run again.

The move sparked riots in which no fewer than 40 people were killed.

Biya is currently the longest-ruling non-royal leader in Africa and the oldest ruler in Sub-Saharan Africa after Robert Mugabe stepped down during the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d’état.

Earlier this month, he postponed parliamentary elections also set for October by a year, arguing that the electoral calendar was too cramped.

The president’s main rival is 49-year-old Joshua Osih of the main opposition Social Democratic Front.

Credit: NAN