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Paul Biya

For Nformi Bime, Cameroon’s political history has stretched across almost his entire adult life.

When Paul Biya first won a presidential election in 1984, Bime was 23 and still a student. More than four decades later, Bime is 65, retired from teaching, while Biya, now 93, remains at the head of the Central African nation.

Biya’s latest election victory has extended one of the world’s longest presidential tenures and revived questions about political succession, generational change and the future of democracy in Cameroon.

The president won a disputed eighth term last year, a result his opponents rejected as fraudulent. The election was followed by deadly clashes between protesters and security forces, further deepening tensions surrounding Biya’s continued rule.

Biya, however, presented the election as another opportunity to lead the country, telling supporters before the vote that “the best is yet to come.”

For people such as Bime, that promise carries a different meaning after decades under the same president.

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Bime was still building his future when Biya first secured an electoral mandate. Over the years, he completed his education, entered the teaching profession and eventually retired, while Cameroon’s presidency remained occupied by the same man.

The generational contrast has become one of the most striking features of Biya’s rule. Young Cameroonians have grown up knowing no other president, while older citizens have spent most of their working and family lives under the same administration.

Biya came to power in 1982 after the resignation of Cameroon’s first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo. He later won presidential elections, consolidating his position through a political system that has kept him in office for more than four decades.

His latest victory has raised fresh concerns among opposition groups and civil society organisations over the political space available to challengers and the credibility of elections.

Opponents have repeatedly accused the authorities of restricting political competition and suppressing dissent. The government has rejected allegations that it deliberately undermines democratic participation.

The age of the president has also become a major part of the national conversation. At 93, Biya is among the world’s oldest serving heads of state. If he completes his latest mandate, he could remain president until he is close to 100.

That prospect has intensified discussion about what happens after Biya and whether Cameroon is prepared for a transition that has been postponed for generations.

For many citizens, the issue is no longer simply whether Biya can continue to govern, but whether the country’s political institutions can produce a credible succession process.

The experience of Bime illustrates the scale of the change that has taken place around the presidency without a corresponding change at its centre. A student in 1984 became a retired teacher, while the president he watched take power remained in office.

Cameroon now faces a political future shaped by an unusual question: how does a country prepare for life after a leader who has dominated its politics for most of its modern history?

As Biya begins another term, that question is likely to remain at the heart of Cameroon’s political debate.

The Traffic NG
Paul Biya
Amarachi Ihesiulo
The Traffic NG

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