MRC denounces “perfidious” ELECAM decision to bar Kamto, vows appeal at Constitutional Council

MRC statement: “A band of usurpers”

In a communiqué signed by acting party leader Mamadou Yakouba, the MRC said it was “stupefied, but not surprised” to see Kamto’s name missing from ELECAM’s provisional list of 13 approved candidates for the 12 October poll. The party accused the electoral board of acting on orders from the ruling RDPC and denounced what it called a fabricated dispute inside the MANIDEM party—Kamto’s new political home—engineered by Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji.

“A band of usurpers has taken our country hostage and is ready to plunge it into chaos,” the statement read, urging Cameroonians to remain calm yet mobilised.

The MRC affirmed its “unwavering support” for Kamto and said MANIDEM lawyers would file a petition with the Constitutional Council within the 72-hour deadline, hoping the judges would “for once be guided by the higher interests of the Nation.”

Atanga Nji’s brusque response

Confronted by Actualité Hebdo about accusations of bias, Atanga Nji offered a blunt message to excluded contenders:

“To political actors, when names are known and validated… If your name wasn’t retained in the list, it’s over for you in 2025. You can wait for 2032. People should cry quietly, not in public places. Cry in your homes, not in the streets.”

Equinox TV: deserted city centre

Local broadcaster Equinox TV reported that army trucks and riot police sealed off key intersections around ELECAM headquarters early Sunday. One correspondent summed up the mood: “The population is afraid. Stay at home. As a result, the streets are deserted.”

Voices from Yaoundé

Residents interviewed outside police checkpoints expressed anger and disbelief at Kamto’s disqualification:

• “We came today to hear the first results, but the city was barricaded and they rolled out weapons of war—this is our country,” said a middle-aged man clutching his voter card.

• “In a serious election you can’t simply sideline someone like Maurice Kamto,” argued a young woman, calling the decision “an expression of hatred toward a charismatic leader.”

• Another voter lamented: “Politics here gets more complicated every day. After 43 years of the same regime, people had put their hopes in Kamto; rejecting him will push many away from politics.”

• A retiree added: “They talk about some ‘imperative mandate’ one day, then invent another pretext the next. It’s all designed to make sure the professor never runs.”

Several interviewees predicted the Constitutional Council would declare any appeal “incompetent” or “irreceivable,” a judgment they said had become a ritual in Cameroon’s election disputes.

What happens next

The Constitutional Council, chaired by Clément Atangana, has ten days to rule on petitions against ELECAM’s list. Its previous record shows no instance of overturning a candidate ban. Meanwhile, opposition activists are debating whether to rally behind another approved contender or escalate street protests if Kamto’s appeal fails.

For now, Yaoundé’s normally congested boulevards remain eerily quiet—an urban echo of a deeper political void that many Cameroonians fear the courts will do little to fill.