Cameroon’s 92-year-old Paul Biya makes first campaign stop as he seeks eighth presidential term

Cameroon’s 92-year-old Paul Biya makes first campaign stop as he seeks eighth presidential term

By: African News

Cameroon’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya appeared Tuesday at his first campaign rally for the upcoming election in which the world’s oldest head of state is seeking his eighth term.

Addressing a crowd of supporters at a stadium in the Far North town of Maroua, Biya promised to step up security in the region plagued by extremist attacks, curb youth unemployment and improve road infrastructure and social amenities if he is reelected in Sunday’s vote.

“My goal, my fellow citizens, is for every young person, wherever they may be, to have opportunities that enable them to easily find a job or become an entrepreneur,” Biya said in his speech.

The Far North Region is majority Muslim and one of Cameroon’s poorest areas. It has been plagued by attacks and kidnappings for ransom by the extremist group Boko Haram.

It also accounts for nearly 20 percent of the country’s 8.2 million eligible voters, and two of the nine opposition candidates in the election — Biya’s former allies Bello Bouba Maigari and Issa Tchiroma Bakary — command a strong following in the Far North.

The outing was Biya’s first in a campaign from which he has been noticeably absent, and he only recently returned from a weeklong stay in Switzerland.

No official reason for his stay abroad has been given but Biya has regularly traveled to Europe for private stays and medical treatment in recent years.

He is rarely seen in public and critics say his capacity to govern has been severely limited by his age.
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