85-Year-Old Biya Who Has Ruled For 35 Years Sworn In For 7th Term As President Of Cameroon

85-Year-Old Biya Who Has Ruled For 35 Years Sworn In For 7th Term As President Of Cameroon
Cameroon's 85-year-old, President Paul Biya was sworn in on Tuesday for a seventh term after disputed elections and amid mounting unrest in an English-speaking region, according to a report by AFP.

Biya has ruled Cameroon for 35 years and was declared victor in the October 7th election with 71 percent of the votes.

But the elections were marked by low voter turnout, violence and allegations of fraud.

In the October election, turnout was a meagre five percent in the Northwest and 15 percent in the Southwest - but Biya won more than two-thirds of the vote in both regions.

The swearing in ceremony was however clouded by Monday's kidnapping of 80 people, including 79 students, in a school in the restive North-West region.

The government and separatists who are pushing for an independent state in mainly English-speaking areas have been trading accusations as to who is behind the kidnapping. More than 300,000 people have fled the violence in the North-West and South-West regions with some crossing the border into Nigeria.

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