IN POWER FOR 35 YEARS CAMEROON’S PRESIDENT

President Clocks 35 Years in Office

Monday marked 35 years since Cameroon’s President Paul Biya took office. His supporters are marking the anniversary with celebrations.His opponents are calling for him to stand aside when the country holds a presidential election next year.

A song, praising Biya for bringing peace and development to Cameroon, blasted through loud speakers in Nanga Eboko, a town in central Cameroon, where thousands of people have been brought in to celebrate the anniversary of Paul Biya’s rise to power.

Biya became president on November 6, 1982, after the resignation of the Central African state’s first leader, Ahmadou Ahidjo. He has won five elections since then, and in 2008 he revised the 1996 constitution to remove term limits.