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Biya, 92, Holds Rare Rally as He Seeks an Eighth Term in Cameroon

Doubts about the election’s credibility shape perceptions of a race with a weakened opposition.

A man pushes a wheelbarrow loaded with goods through Mokolo market, Yaoundé, Cameroon, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo / Welba Yamo Pascal)
Tankeu Patie Merveille, 24, a student, poses on the campus of the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, Sept. 12, 2025 (AP Photo / Welba Yamo Pascal)
FILE - Cameroon's incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, casts his vote during the presidential elections in Yaounde, Cameroon, Sunday Oct. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)
Manoung Gauthier Wilfried, 27, a student, poses on the campus of the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, Sept 12, 2025. (AP Photo / Welba Yamo Pascal)

Overview

  • At his first in-person campaign event in months, the president spoke in Maroua on Oct. 7, promising tougher security, jobs for youth, and better roads and services.
  • Reporters at the stadium estimated only a few hundred attendees despite organizers saying nearly 25,000 were expected.
  • The appearance followed a weeklong private trip to Switzerland and a stretch of low public visibility that has intensified scrutiny of his health.
  • The Oct. 12 single-round vote features nine challengers, but the field is divided after leading rival Maurice Kamto was barred in August.
  • The Far North, battered by Boko Haram and home to nearly 20% of voters, is pivotal, with U.N.-reported poverty and economic strain fueling frustrations.