Cameroon’s Constitutional Council on Tuesday rejected the candidacy of President Paul Biya’s strongest opponent in the upcoming October presidential election.
The court ruled that Maurice Kamto’s candidacy “cannot be valid,” immediately disqualifying the high-profile critic from participating in the presidential race.
Biya, 92, has been in power since 1982 and is now seeking an eighth term in the country’s October 12 contest. Kamto, 71, who resigned from his former party in June, came in second to Biya in the last presidential election held in 2018.
He sought to run this time as a candidate for the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy, officially submitting his candidacy last month.
However, the electoral code requires parties to have MPs or municipal deputies, which Kamto’s new party lacks since boycotting the 2020 elections.
Constitutional Council president Clement Atangana ruled Kamto’s appeals were admissible for the court but ultimately judged them to be “unfounded.”
Another candidate from the same party, the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy, also had his official candidacy rejected by the court.
Two other opponents of Biya, Cabral Libii and Joshua Osih, had their candidacies successfully approved by the country’s electoral commission.
So far, Cameroon’s Election Commission has approved 13 out of 83 prospective candidates, including the incumbent President Biya.
The ministry of territorial administration announced the arrest of several people accused of disturbing public order near its premises.
Human Rights Watch had warned that not allowing Kamto to stand would raise serious concerns about the credibility of the electoral process.
The NGO cautioned that excluding the most popular opponent from the process would “leave a shadow over whatever results are eventually announced.”
The move, HRW noted, reflects the government’s long-standing intolerance of any opposition and comes amid increased repression of opponents.
