85--YEAR OLD PAUL BIYA SWORN IN AS CAMEROON'S PRESIDENT FOR A SEVENTH TERM:

 As Cameroon reels in the wake of the abduction by armed separatists of at least 79 students and three staff members from a Presbyterian school in the troubled English-speaking region of Cameroon, it will be business as usual on the political front with the swearing-in of president-elect Paul Biya on Tuesday.

Biya, from Cameroon’s south, has been head of state since 1982 when he took over following the resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo who was in power since independence in 1960.

Biya secured 71% of the vote in the October 7th election but opposition parties said the election was marred by fraud. The swearing in ceremony was however clouded by Monday's kidnapping of 80 people, including 79 students, in a school in the restive North-West region.  



The government and separatists who are pushing for an independent state in mainly English-speaking areas have been trading accusations as to who is behind the kidnapping.  More than 300,000 people have fled the violence in the North-West and South-West regions with some crossing the border into Nigeria.