Tanzania: Autocracies in Transition – in 2025, Cameroon and Tanzania Rulers Clung to Power – but Look More Vulnerable Than Ever

Autocratic leaders in Africa like their numbers to be in the high 90s, it appears.

In October, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan won a highly dubious 98% of the presidential vote, perpetuating the ruling party’s grip on power to 60 years. During the same month, Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who has ruled the country since 1982, secured an unprecedented eighth term in office. It will allow him to serve until he turns 99.

In neither case were elections deemed free or fair, and in both cases…