Too Old to Lead, Too Powerful to Quit: The Curse of Africa’s Lifelong Rulers
28th October 2025
As he campaigned for an eighth term in office, Cameroon’s 92-year-old president confidently declared: “The best is yet to come.”
Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, now has seven more years to fulfil that promise after victory extended his tenure to the eve of his 100th birthday, when he will be five times the average age of his countrymen.
Mr Biya lengthened his 43-year rule after winning 53.7 per cent of the vote to beat his rival Issa Tchiroma, who came in second with 35.2 per cent.
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In 1986, when Yoweri Museveni took power in Uganda by ousting the military regime of Gen Tito Okello, he singled out the issue as a cause of the continent’s ills.
He said: “The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power.”
As if to prove his point, 39 years later Mr Museveni is still in power after removing term limits and is now 81 in a country where the median age is just 17.