AS 92-year-old President Paul Biya remains silent on whether he will seek another term in Cameroon’s October 2025 election, younger voters are growing increasingly vocal in their calls for political change.
According to a report by AFP, Biya — in power since 1982 — has not declared his intentions with just weeks remaining before candidates must register. But growing calls from within his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC) for him to run again are clashing with a generation that has never known another leader.
‘It would be one candidacy too many,’ said Ange Ngandjo, a 35-year-old banking consultant. ‘He’s given what he could. Our generation, trained and competent, also wants to build this country.’
In Yaoundé’s Mokolo district, 29-year-old mechanic Ibrahim Baba shared the sentiment. ‘A new term for Paul Biya? I don’t think so,’ he said.
Youth eager for a different future
First-time voters like Celestine Mbida, a 24-year-old law student, say the stakes are high. ‘This election represents a lot… It’s the future of the country that is at stake. I want to participate by giving my vote.’
With over 60 percent of Cameroon’s population under 25 and youth unemployment nearing 74 percent, frustration is mounting over issues such as high living costs, inequality, insecurity in the Far North, and the unresolved Anglophone crisis.
Tensions rise within ruling party
Inside Biya’s own party, signs of division are emerging. While some members push for continuity, others question the lack of internal democratic processes — including the failure to hold a party congress since 2011.
One dissenter, Leon Theiller Onana, a municipal councillor in Monatele, has even filed a legal complaint challenging the legitimacy of the RDPC’s leadership.
Meanwhile, the government has attempted to rally youth support, organising events such as a ‘100,000 Youth United Behind Paul Biya’ rally in Maroua, in the Far North. But critics say such events are manufactured.
‘They rounded up children to make it look like he still has support in the Far North,’ one young man said in a viral video. ‘It’s false, it’s a charade.’
Experts urge planned succession
Political analyst Aristide Mono of the University of Yaoundé II warned that the lack of a clear succession plan could trigger instability.
‘Whether you’re young, old, a woman or a man, the concerns are the same — insecurity, unemployment, tribalism, the cost of living,’ he told AFP. ‘Young people, like other social groups, are asking themselves about the post-Biya era — because one way or another, that day will come.’
‘We need to plan the succession now to avoid the kinds of crises that have sparked civil wars in other countries,’ he added.
Global concerns over political uncertainty
The international community is also watching closely. In its November 2024 review, Fitch Ratings listed the possibility of another Biya term as a political risk, warning that the absence of a transition strategy increases the likelihood of a disorderly power handover.
Opposition leader Maurice Kamto, 71, of the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), is attempting to win youth support despite his age. ‘If our country is to survive and achieve a certain rank tomorrow, the youth must be prepared,’ he said.
For many young Cameroonians, the upcoming election may be a defining moment — not just about who leads the country next, but whether their voices can finally shape its future.
