Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, confirmed on Saturday that he will run for a sixth term in next year’s presidential elections, following a parliamentary vote that removed the 75-year age limit for candidates.
The 77-year-old accepted the nomination from his People’s Rally for Progress (RPP) party during a congress in the capital, the presidency said. Guelleh, who has led the Horn of Africa nation for more than two decades, said he remains committed to “unity, stability, and development amid global challenges” ahead of the April 2026 vote.
Djibouti is considered a stable state in a region often beset by unrest and hosts a major port with military bases for the United States, France, China, Japan, and Italy. Guelleh’s re-election is widely expected, as his Union for the Presidential Majority coalition holds a parliamentary majority, and he won the 2021 election with 97 percent of the vote.
His candidacy follows the recent removal of the 75-year age limit, and the 2010 constitutional change that eliminated term limits, allowing long-serving leaders to extend their rule. Guelleh joins other senior African leaders seeking continued tenure, including 92-year-old Paul Biya in Cameroon and 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara in Ivory Coast.
Human rights groups regularly criticise Djibouti for curbing dissent. Reporters Without Borders ranks the country 168th out of 180 in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, noting that “the media landscape is completely controlled and limited almost exclusively to state media.”
Guelleh succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon, Djibouti’s first president, in 1999 after 22 years as his chief of staff. Speaking to Africa Report in May, he addressed rumours about his health, saying he “probably” needed to “lose a few pounds” but that “otherwise, everything is perfect.”
Djibouti, home to around one million people, lies along the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, a crucial international trade route.
