31/07/2026
LEGENDS DON'T DIE THEY LIVE ON.
Paul Biya is Cameroon's second president, one of the world's longest-serving heads of state.
Background
Born November 13, 1933, in Mvomeka'a, southern Cameroon, Biya trained in law and political science in France (Institut d'Études Politiques and Institut des Hautes Études d'Outre-Mer). He returned to Cameroon and rose steadily through the civil service under founding president Ahmadou Ahidjo — serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency, then Prime Minister from 1975. He came to power on 6 November 1982 following Ahidjo's resignation on 4 November (PRC) , becoming Cameroon's second head of state.
Political consolidation
Biya was elected president of the ruling party after it transformed from the CNU into the CPDM in 1985. (PRC) In December 1990 he restored multiparty politics, ending the one-party era that had existed since 1966, and more than 200 political parties have since been legalized. (PRC) The CPDM has won every legislative election since, and Biya has been re-elected president repeatedly — most recently in October 2025, when he secured 53.66 percent of the vote for an eighth term, against runner-up Issa Tchiroma Bakary's 35.19 percent (globalsecurity) .
Claimed achievements (government's framing)
Restoration of multiparty democracy and legalization of political pluralism (1990)
Long-running relative macroeconomic and monetary stability tied to the CFA franc zone
Infrastructure projects (roads, the Kribi deep-sea port, hydroelectric dams)
Investment in higher education, expanding university access
Positioning Cameroon as a diplomatic "peace island" in a volatile Central African region
Controversies and criticisms
Widely criticized for entrenched one-man rule spanning over four decades, with elections regularly contested by opposition and observers as unfair
The ongoing Anglophone crisis (armed conflict in Cameroon's English-speaking regions since 2016) and the long-running Boko Haram insurgency in the north
His 2025 r