Paul Biya

Biya introduced political reforms within the context of a single-party system in the 1980s. A native of Cameroon's south Biya rose rapidly as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982. He narrowly won the 1992 presidential election with 40% of the plural single-ballot vote and was re-elected by large margins in 1997 2004 and 2011.