Paul Biya
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| Paul Biya | |
 President Paul Biya of Cameroon at the inauguration of the new U.S. Embassy to Cameroon, 16 February 2006 |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 6 November 1982 |
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| President | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
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| Preceded by | Ahmadou Ahidjo |
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| In office 1975 – 1982 |
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| Succeeded by | Bello Bouba Maigari |
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| Born | 13 February 1933 Mvomeka'a, Centre-South Province, French Cameroon |
| Spouse | Chantal Biya |
Paul Biya (born February 13, 1933) has been the President of Cameroon since 1982.
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[edit] Personal life
Biya was born in the village of Mvomeka'a in the Centre-South Province of what was then French Cameroon. He is a member of the Beti-Pahuin ethnic group. He studied in Paris at Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), where he graduated in 1961 with a diploma in International Relations. He married Jeanne-Irène Biya with whom he had a son, Franck Biya. After Jeanne-Irène Biya died in 1992, Paul Biya married Chantal Biya in 1994 with whom he has had two more children.
[edit] Political career
He served under President Ahmadou Ahidjo and became Prime Minister in 1975. Ahidjo resigned on November 6, 1982. Biya became president as he was Ahidjo's hand-picked successor. However, after Ahidjo's resignation, Biya repudiated some of Ahidjo's policies, replaced most of Ahidjo's cabinet, and eventually Ahidjo was forced into exile.
In 1992, Biya won the first multiparty elections, but received only about 40 percent of the vote and a relatively small margin over opposition candidate John Fru Ndi, who received about 36 percent. In 1997, he was re-elected with 92.6 percent of the vote, but the main opposition parties boycotted the election.[1] He won another seven-year term in the presidential election of October 11, 2004, officially taking 70.92 percent of the vote, but the opposition alleged widespread fraud.[2]
[edit] Opposition and criticism
Biya has been criticized by some as being a strongman, and is sometimes considered to be aloof from the people. He has also been strongly criticized by the Anglophones, the English-speaking people of Cameroon who live in the region formerly under British colonial rule, for their marginalization and oppression. His strongest opposition is from this region of Cameroon.
The historian David Wallechnisky, in his book Tyrants, the World's 20 Worst Living Dictators, ranked Biya with only two others in sub-Saharan Africa: Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and King Mswati of Swaziland. He describes Cameroon's electoral process in these terms: “Every few years, Biya stages an election to justify his continuing reign, but these elections have no credibility. In fact, Biya is credited with a creative innovation in the world of phony elections. In 2004, annoyed by the criticisms of international vote-monitoring groups, he paid for his own set of international observers, six ex-U.S. congressmen, who certified his election as free and fair.”[3] In 2007, Parade magazine ranked Biya the 19th worst dictator in the world.[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Elections in Cameroon, African Elections Database.
- ^ "Cameroon's Supreme Court confirms Biya's re-election" Agence France Presse, October 25, 2004.
- ^ David Wallechinsky, Tyrants: the World's 20 Worst Living Dictators, Regan Press, 2006, pp. 286-290
- ^ The World's Worst Dictators - 2007
[edit] External links
- (French) Official site
| Preceded by — |
Prime Minister of Cameroon 1975–1982 |
Succeeded by Bello Bouba Maigari |
| Preceded by Ahmadou Ahidjo |
President of Cameroon 1982–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Presidents of Cameroon |  |
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| Ahmadou Ahidjo • Paul Biya |
| Prime Ministers of Cameroon | |
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| East Cameroon (1960-72): Ahmadou Ahidjo • Charles Assalé • Vincent de Paul Ahanda • Simon Pierre Tchoungui West Cameroon (1961-72): John Ngu Foncha • Augustine Ngom Jua • Salomon Tandeng Muna Cameroon (since 1972): vacant • Paul Biya • Maigari Bello Bouba • Luc Ayang • vacant • Sadou Hayatou • Simon Achidi Achu • Peter Mafany Musonge • Ephraïm Inoni |
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