81 PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS TO RUN AGAINST WORLD’S OLDEST PRESIDENT, PAUL BIYA, 92 IN CAMEROON

 

An unprecedented 81 candidates have registered for Cameroon’s October presidential election, all of which must now pass through the filter of the electoral council. One thing is certain: very few will be approved.

The last candidate who submitted his paperwork to Elecam, the body in charge of Cameroon’s October elections, was Bessiping, a politician who goes by one name, from the Rassemblement des Forces Ecologiques pour la Relance de l’Economie (RFERE). On 21 July, just five minutes before the midnight deadline, he became the 81st individual on the record-breaking list of candidates.

That’s a major jump from the 28 candidates who submitted their dossiers to run in the 2018 presidential election.

The list includes former prime ministers, ex-ministers, businesspeople, some young political upstarts, and seasoned veterans. Never before in Cameroon has such diversity been seen among the candidates submitting their files ahead of a presidential vote.

Unsurprisingly, many 2018 candidates are back. From President Paul Biya, who is going for his eighth term as the world’s oldest leader at age 92, to Maurice Kamto, who came in second place in 2018, representing the Mouvement pour la Renaissance du Cameroun (MRC).

Cabral Libii, Joshua Osih, Espoir Matomba, and Akere Muna, the veterans of past presidential races, are once again in the arena.

Notably absent are three former stalwarts, Garga Haman Adji, who decided not to run at 81, but is still younger than President Biya, as well as the late politicians Adamou Ndam Njoya and Franklin Ndifor.