Staff Reporter

Maurice Kamto, a prominent opposition figure and runner-up in Cameroon’s 2018 presidential election, has been excluded from the list of approved candidates for the 2025 October 12 presidential election.

The decision by Elections Cameroon (Elecam), the country’s electoral body, has narrowed the field from 83 initial submissions to just 13 accepted names, causing immediate controversy and raising concerns about the fairness of the upcoming vote.

Kamto, who secured a great portion of the vote in the last election amidst fraud allegations, has not yet publicly commented on his disqualification.

However, Anicet Ekane, president of the Manidem party which Kamto had recently joined, described the exclusion as arbitrary and provocative.

“We call on all Cameroonians to show calm and restraint because for the moment, it is only an offside goal,” Ekane stated, indicating that a legal challenge would be filed with the Constitutional Council within the two-day window allowed for appeals.

The reason cited for Kamto’s exclusion was a technicality: he was one of two candidates registered to represent the Manidem party, despite the party’s ruling body officially adopting him.

The exclusion paves the way for President Paul Biya, 92, to seek an eighth term in office.

Biya, the world’s oldest serving president, has been in power for nearly 43 years and has defied calls to step down, maintaining he still has much to offer Cameroonians.

He will be hallenged by two former allies, Issa Tchiroma Bakary and Bello Bouba Maigari, both hailing from the politically significant northern region.

Kamto had previously run under the banner of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) in 2018.

However, the CRM was ineligible to endorse a candidate this year due to its lack of elected representatives in parliament or local councils, prompting Kamto’s strategic move to join Manidem, a party with existing local representation.