Yaounde, Cameroon. The world’s oldest president, Cameroon’s 92-year-old Paul Biya, has won another term in office, the country’s top court announced Monday, following days of violent clashes between protesters and security forces that left at least four people dead. Opposition supporters had demanded transparent results.

Biya, who has ruled the central African nation since 1982, has now been in power longer than most of Cameroon’s nearly 30 million citizens have been alive. More than 70 percent of the population is under 35. The October 12 election underscored widening tensions between Africa’s youth and its aging leaders.

The Constitutional Council said Biya secured 53.66 percent of the vote, while former ally Issa Tchiroma Bakary received 35.19 percent. Voter turnout stood at 57.7 percent.

After the announcement, Tchiroma alleged that security forces had shot civilians in his hometown of Garoua, killing two. “Shooting point-blank at your own brothers, I can’t help but wonder if you’re mercenaries,” he wrote on social media. “Kill me if you want, but I will liberate this country by any means necessary.” Authorities did not immediately comment.

Tchiroma had claimed victory days earlier based on results his party said it had compiled, but Biya’s ruling party dismissed the claim. On Sunday, four protesters were reportedly shot dead in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital, as hundreds took to the streets demanding Biya step down.

Biya’s decision to seek yet another term infuriated opposition groups and many young voters, who accused him of manipulating the election and sidelining rivals. Online videos showed security forces firing tear gas at demonstrators blocking major roads in Douala and other northern cities. Authorities said more than 100 people were arrested and several police officers injured.

“I am ready to stake my life to defend my vote,” said Oumarou Bouba, a 27-year-old trader in Maroua. “I voted for Tchiroma because I want change.”

Cameroon’s government said more than 5,000 national and international observers monitored the election. However, a coalition of local civil society groups reported irregularities, including deceased voters on electoral rolls, ballot shortages, and attempts at ballot-stuffing. The African Union mission, by contrast, said the vote was “largely in accordance with regional and international standards.”

Biya, who first came to power after the resignation of Cameroon’s founding president, has ruled uninterrupted for over four decades. A 2008 constitutional amendment scrapped term limits, allowing him to extend his rule indefinitely.

His prolonged absences abroad, often in Europe, have fueled speculation about his health. Critics accuse him of presiding over worsening instability, including Boko Haram attacks in the north and a bloody separatist conflict in the English-speaking regions, which has killed nearly 7,000 people and displaced more than one million.

Despite being an oil producer, Cameroon’s economic gains have largely benefited the elite. While the official unemployment rate is 3.5 percent, the World Bank estimates that 57 percent of workers aged 18–35 are stuck in informal jobs.

“Many young people in Cameroon and abroad hoped for change, but those hopes have been dashed,” said Emile Sunjo, an international relations lecturer at the University of Buea. “This feels like a missed opportunity, the country could slide into anarchy.”

Christopher Fomunyoh, regional director at the National Democratic Institute, said Cameroon’s Constitutional Council had “boxed itself into a corner” and had no choice but to declare Biya the winner. “All those involved should brace themselves for the inevitable consequences and backlash,” he warned.

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