Yaoundé, Cameroon – October 27, 2025 – In a move that has ignited fierce backlash and street violence, Cameroon's Constitutional Council on Monday officially declared 92-year-old President Paul Biya the winner of the October 12 presidential election, securing 53.66 percent of the votes and extending his iron-fisted rule by another seven years. The announcement, delayed by two weeks amid mounting tensions, cements Biya's status as Africa's longest-serving leader and the world's oldest sitting head of state, propelling him toward a half-century in power by 2032.
Biya, who first assumed the presidency in 1982 following the death of Ahmadou Ahidjo, has governed Cameroon for 43 years, a tenure marked by the 2008 constitutional amendment that abolished term limits. This victory—his eighth consecutive—defeats a fragmented field of 10 candidates, with his closest rival, former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, polling 35.19 percent. Other contenders trailed far behind: Cabral Libii of the Party of the Cameroons garnered 3.41 percent, while National Union for Democracy and Progress leader Bello Bouba Maigari received 2.45 percent. The council's decision came after dismissing all opposition petitions challenging the results, a process critics decried as a mere formality given that its judges are appointed by Biya himself.
The election, overseen by the National Elections Observatory (ELECAM), saw over 8 million eligible voters, though turnout figures remain disputed and unverified. Provisional tallies released by the National Vote Counting Commission on October 21 had already pointed to Biya's lead, but the full certification has only amplified the sense of inevitability for his supporters and outrage for his detractors. In Biya's southern home region, he captured a staggering 90.86 percent, while diaspora votes from across Africa—where more than half abstained—leaned toward Tchiroma with 54.99 percent among participants. Yet, the overall victor is determined by national totals, not regional or expatriate margins.
Tchiroma, 76, a railway engineer turned politician who served in Biya's cabinet for over three decades—including stints as communications minister and employment minister—broke ranks in June 2025 to lead the Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon (FSNC) under the Union for Change 2025 coalition. His campaign, launched with rallies drawing massive crowds in the north, promised a three- to five-year transition to rebuild what he called a "destroyed" nation plagued by corruption, youth unemployment, and regional conflicts. Just two days after polls closed, Tchiroma preemptively declared victory on social media, citing internal tallies showing him at 54.8 percent to Biya's 31.3 percent—figures representing 80 percent of the electorate. He urged Biya to "honor the truth of the ballot box" and concede, framing the outcome as a "clear sanction" of the incumbent's rule.
On Monday, Tchiroma doubled down, rejecting the official results as "fabricated" and vowing to pursue legal and popular avenues to "defend the sovereign will of the Cameroonian people." His coalition, backed by civic groups and other candidates like Libii, accused authorities of widespread irregularities: ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, last-minute polling station relocations, and an outdated electoral roll listing deceased individuals. The Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, a key election monitor, corroborated these claims, noting failures in updating voter lists and procedural lapses that disenfranchised thousands.
The government's response has been swift and unyielding. Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji branded Tchiroma's early victory claim a "grotesque hoax" and "diabolical plan" orchestrated with "occult networks" abroad. Ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC) deputy secretary-general Grégoire Owona dismissed it as baseless, insisting only the Constitutional Council holds authority. Reports emerged last week of a behind-the-scenes olive branch: Biya offered Tchiroma the prime ministership to quell unrest, a proposal the opposition leader flatly rejected as an insult to voters.
These disputes have spilled into the streets, transforming anticipation into tragedy. Ahead of Monday's declaration, Tchiroma called for peaceful marches despite a nationwide ban on public gatherings imposed by prefects. Tensions boiled over on Sunday in Douala, Cameroon's bustling commercial hub and economic engine, where hundreds of protesters—many waving FSNC banners and chanting "Tchiroma 2025"—clashed with security forces. Demonstrators barricaded roads near Douala International Airport and in the New Bell district, hurling stones at police stations and gendarmes in the second and sixth arrondissements.
Littoral Regional Governor Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua confirmed the violence's toll: four protesters killed by gunfire, several security personnel wounded, and over 105 demonstrators arrested. "Four people unfortunately lost their lives," Diboua stated, attributing the deaths to attacks on law enforcement outposts. Tchiroma's campaign echoed the figure, blaming "excessive force" from riot police who deployed tear gas, water cannons, and live rounds. Videos circulating on social media captured chaotic scenes: youths dodging volleys of rubber bullets, women shielding children behind burning tires, and officers in riot gear charging crowds.
The unrest wasn't isolated to Douala. In Garoua, Tchiroma's northern stronghold, hundreds marched with Cameroonian flags, chanting "Goodbye Paul Biya, Tchiroma is coming" before tear gas dispersed them. Similar skirmishes erupted in Maroua, another opposition bastion in the impoverished Far North, where protesters left handwritten pleas outside the governor's office decrying poverty and exclusion: "The young people of Maroua are writing to you today to inform you that we are fed up... All the citizens voted for Issa, but the government wants to rig it." In Yaoundé, heavy deployments of gendarmes stifled gatherings, but sporadic arrests—of activists like Djeukam Tchameni and Anicet Ekane from allied parties—fueled accusations of a preemptive crackdown.
Atanga Nji defended the response, announcing that over 20 detainees would face military tribunals on charges of "incitement to rebellion and insurrection." Internet blackouts, confirmed by monitor NetBlocks, blanketed Douala and northern regions on Sunday, throttling live streams and coordination among protesters. Earlier clashes on October 22 and 24 claimed at least two more lives, including a teacher felled by stray bullets in Garoua, pushing the post-election death toll to at least six.
This flare-up unfolds against Cameroon's deeper fractures. The Anglophone crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions—where separatist insurgents have battled government forces since 2016, displacing over 700,000 and killing thousands—saw minimal campaigning due to insecurity, further eroding turnout. In the Far North, Boko Haram's incursions compound poverty, with youth unemployment hovering at 13 percent nationally but far higher in Tchiroma's base. Analysts warn that Biya's longevity has created a "political vacuum," stifling succession and breeding resentment among a median-age population of 19. "The greatest danger isn't rivals like Tchiroma," one Yaoundé-based expert noted, "but the vacuum his rule has left."
International observers have been muted but watchful. The African Union and Economic Community of Central African States deployed monitors, yet their reports—due soon—may echo the Catholic Church's call for calm and dialogue. Western powers, including France—Cameroon's former colonizer and Biya's longtime ally—have urged restraint without endorsing the process. On X (formerly Twitter), global voices amplified the chaos: South African commentator Nicole Barlow decried Biya's "murderous and corrupt legacy," while Kenyan pundit Kange The invoked half-a-century of rule as a cautionary tale.
As night falls in Yaoundé, the city holds its breath. Biya, rarely seen publicly and rumored to delegate decrees to aide Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, has yet to address the nation. Tchiroma's supporters, undeterred, plan further mobilizations, declaring October 23 a "people's holiday" of stay-at-home resistance that evolved into Sunday's marches. With over 100 in custody and fears of escalation, Cameroon's youth—furious at a gerontocracy that ignores their future—stand at a crossroads. Will this election mark the end of an era or the spark of deeper upheaval? For now, the Lion—Biya's enduring nickname—roars on, but the pride grows restless.
