Cameroonians re-elect 92-year-old Biya as clashes kill four

Paul Biya, the world’s oldest serving head of state, has been declared the winner of Cameroon’s election, granting him an eighth term that could keep him in office until he is nearly 100.

The country’s constitutional council said Biya won 53.66% of the vote, whilst his former ally turned challenger, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, got 35.19%.

Biya, 92, took office in 1982 and has held a tight grip on power ever since, doing away with the presidential term limit in 2008 and winning re-election by comfortable margins. He is only the second head of state to lead Cameroon since independence from France in 1960.

Cameroon has been on edge in recent weeks whilst the country waited for the official results. Four people were killed on Sunday in clashes between security forces and supporters of the opposition in the economic capital, Douala.

Tchiroma had claimed victory two days after the election, which took place on 12 October, publishing a tally that showed he had secured 54.8% of the votes, to Biya’s 31.3%. His team said his victory was based on results representing 80% of the electorate that they had collated.

Its Paul Biya again in Cameroon.

43 years as head of state and will be 100 years old in couple of years. pic.twitter.com/OoNniSO2cu

— Olomo TIMES (@Olomotimes) October 27, 2025

He also called for protests if the constitutional council were to announce “falsified and distorted results”. The ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement dismissed his claims, urging him to wait for the official results.

The situation has been particularly volatile in the northern city of Garoua, Tchiroma’s home town, where youths on motorcycles gathered with crude weapons outside his residence in anticipation of a possible arrest.

There have also been protests in the capital, Yaoundé, as well as in neighbourhoods in other parts of Cameroon including Bafoussam and Douala, two of the country’s most populous cities.

In a video posted on social media at the weekend, Tchiroma claimed security personnel had attempted to breach his residence to arrest him.

Biya has ruled with an iron fist, repressing all political and armed opposition, and holding on to power through social upheaval, economic disparity and separatist violence.

His personal life has also been marked by controversy. His first wife, Jeanne-Irène Biya, died in Yaoundé in July 1992 at the age of 58 whilst he was on a trip to Dakar. Her death sparked persistent rumours in Cameroon about the circumstances surrounding it, with speculation that it had occurred in an unnatural manner. Biya remarried in 1994 to Chantal Biya, who is 36 years his junior.

Demonstrations broke out in Douala following the announcement of the election results, according to local media reports.

Footage posted by news outlet Mimi Mefo Infos showed dozens of people jogging through the streets, chanting Issa Tchiroma Bakary’s name in unison.

Cameroon News Agency posted a video showing a damaged council building, purportedly attacked by protesters.

Tchiroma Bakary is now alleging that five snipers have been stationed on the house across from his in Garoua and are “firing at point-blank range at the people”.