Cameroon’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, has carried out a sweeping overhaul of the country’s military leadership, a move analysts interpret as a bid to secure army loyalty ahead of his controversial run for an eighth presidential term.

The reshuffle, announced late Tuesday through a series of presidential decrees, affects nearly all branches of the armed forces. New chiefs of staff were appointed for the infantry, air force, and navy, while eight brigadier generals were promoted to the rank of major general.

Among those promoted is the coordinator of the elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), a key special forces unit central to Biya’s internal security framework and frequently deployed in counter-terrorism operations. A new special presidential military adviser was also named.

The shake-up comes just two days after Biya officially declared his candidacy for the October 12 presidential election. If re-elected, the seven-year term would see him remain in power until nearly the age of 100.

Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, faces mounting criticism over his advanced age and repeated absences from public life, which have sparked concerns about his fitness to govern.

His latest bid for re-election triggered a wave of public backlash on social media and in local press.

The government has dismissed concerns about his health, maintaining that the president remains fit to lead.

Security analysts believe the military changes are politically strategic. “The decrees reflect a strategy by President Biya and his collaborators to consolidate power by building a fortress of loyal army generals around him who can suppress any protest to his continued rule,” said Anthony Antem, a peace and security analyst at the Nkafu Policy Institute in Yaoundé.

Celestin Delanga, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), described the timing of the reshuffle as significant. “These changes come in a unique political and security context,” he said. “Biya wants to ensure stability during and after the election, and additional trusted personnel are needed for that.”

The Central African country, rich in cocoa and oil, faces numerous security challenges, including a prolonged conflict with Anglophone separatists in the west and ongoing threats from Nigeria-based Islamist militants in the north.

The government did not provide any official reason for the sweeping changes. The last major military restructuring took place in late 2024, shortly after Biya returned from another extended stay abroad that reignited speculation about his health.