2. Paul Biya (Cameroon) – in power for 35 years
The 84 year old leader of Cameroon has been in power since November 1982. As of 2016, Paul Biya was said to be one of the most highly paid, if not the most highly paid African president, earning $610,000 (Sh62million) a year. He got into office when the then president, Ahmadou Ahidjo, resigned. As he Prime Minister, he was the legally mandated successor. After that, everything went south. Paranoia and coup attempts turned him into a dictator. He once held an election where he was the only candidate and won by 99.98 percent.
Under serious pressure, he accepted the introduction of multiparty politics in the early 1990s. 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. Opposition politicians and Western governments have alleged voting irregularities and fraud on each of these occasions