Cameroonian President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, celebrates his 92nd birthday on Thursday. Having been in power for more than fourty years, Biya is not only Africa’s second-longest-serving leader, but also the longest-serving national leader globally.
Born in 1933 in what was then French Cameroon’s predominantly Christian south, Biya studied at the Lycee Le Grand at the Sorbonne and Sciences Po in Paris, earning a degree in international relations in 1961. He rose quickly after returning to Cameroon, becoming a government minister in 1968 and prime minister after the unification of Anglophone and Francophone Cameroon in 1975.
After President Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned in 1982, Biya became the second president of Cameroon, running unopposed on the People’s Democratic Movement Party ticket. He survived a military coup attempt later that year.
Under pressure in the early 1990s, Biya vowed to bring multi-party politics to the country. He was re-elected in the country’s first multi-party elections in 1992 and went on to win subsequent elections in 1997, 2004, 2011 and 2018.
Biya has hinted at running for another term, with elections due in October. Meanwhile, ten other political figures have expressed interest in running for president in the upcoming elections. According to Cameroon’s voter register, more than 7.8 million registered voters were registered in the last election.