Cameroon News - President Paul Biya remains in power

In the latest Cameroon news, Cameroon's President Paul Biya has been sworn in for a sixth term after winning the election. Seventy eight year old president Paul Biya, who has held the position for the last 29 years, won last month's election by a landslide.

President Biya took over from President Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1982. Facing popular discontent, he allowed multi-party presidential elections in 1992, in which he emerged victorious. He won again in the 1997 elections, which were boycotted by the three main opposition parties, and again in 2004.

"The task awaiting us is immense and difficult, but I don't think it's above us," Mr. Biya told legislators, government ministers and diplomats and the Cameroon news media in a packed Parliament building after winning the latest presidential election. "Our country must continue to enjoy peace and stability."

The president’s main rival in the 2011 elections, Opposition leader John Fru Ndi, who received a truly small percentage of the votes, claimed that the poll had been rigged. His party's vice chairman, Joshua Osih, mentioned to the Cameroon news media that the president's political rivals will come back stronger after learning from what went wrong this year. In his interview with the Cameroon news he was quoted saying “You need only a minimum of political goodwill to turn Cameroon around," Osih said, and at the time we were going in for this election we believed, wrongfully, that this minimum goodwill would be around to make the election acceptable. But this didn't happen.

According to the Cameroon news media President Paul Biya has promised to develop oil-rich Cameroon's infrastructure including a series of large public works projects in energy, mining, ports, and agriculture that he says will make Cameroon an emerging market economy.

He took his oath of office at the national assembly in the capital, Yaoundé. With the elimination of presidential term limits three years ago, Mr. Biya is eligible for re-election in 2018.

The Cameroon Tribune blog features Cameroon news articles, commentaries and columns on contemporary events and regular updates on the Cameroon sports world. It is also a comprehensive guide to Cameroon, detailing the latest in Cameroon news, travel information, food and culture, and more.

Monic Bell
bell_monica@ymail.com
http://www.cameroon-tribune.net/

This release was published on openPR.