President of Cameroon

Paul Biya (born February 13, 1933) has been the President of Cameroon since 1982.

Biya was born in the village of Mvomeka'a in the South province of what was then French Cameroons. He studied in Paris at Sciences Po, where he graduated in 1961 with a diploma in international relations. He served under President Ahmadou Ahidjo and became Prime Minister in 1975. Ahidjo resigned on November 6, 1982 and Biya became president. After his resignation, Ahidjo came into conflict with Biya; he went into exile in 1983 and died in 1989.

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 region of Cameroon formerly under the British Colonial rule) for marginalization and oppression. His strongest opposition is from this region of Cameroon.

He won another seven-year term in the presidential election of October 11, 2004, officially taking 75% of the vote, but the opposition has alleged widespread fraud.