By Abiola Olawale
Paul Biya, the world’s oldest sitting president and one of the longest-serving non-monarch leaders, has been sworn in on Thursday for his eighth term as President of Cameroon.
Biya, a 92-year-old leader, who has been at the helm of the Central African nation for 43 years, will now serve another seven-year mandate, a period that could extend his rule until he is nearly 100 years old.
The New Diplomat reports that Biya won the October 12 election with 53.7 percent of the vote, according to official results, against 35.2 percent for his main challenger, former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary.
He was sworn in at a ceremony in parliament in Yaounde for a new seven-year term at the helm of the central African country.
“I will spare no effort to continue to be worthy of this trust,” Biya told the gathering attended by local political figures but no foreign leaders.
“I fully understand the gravity of the situation our country is going through. I understand the number and severity of the challenges we face and I understand the depth of frustrations and the scale of expectations,” he continued.
However, Tchiroma, a former Biya ally turned opposition figure, had continued to challenge the election results, insisting he is the true winner of the ballot.
“There are now two presidents — the president elected by the Cameroonian people (me) and the president appointed by the Constitutional Council (whom you know),” he wrote on social media on Wednesday.
