Cameroonian opposition leader Maurice Kamto has officially filed an appeal with the Constitutional Council after being disqualified from participating in the country\u2019s upcoming presidential election, scheduled for October 2025.<\/p>\n
Kamto, who finished second to President Paul Biya in the contentious 2018 race, was barred last week by the national electoral body Elecam. The agency claimed that Kamto\u2019s political party, Manidem, had already submitted a candidate for this year\u2019s election, thereby disqualifying Kamto\u2019s own candidacy.<\/p>\n
The decision has triggered outrage among Kamto\u2019s supporters, who accuse Elecam of selective enforcement. \u201cOther parties have registered multiple candidates without consequences,\u201d one supporter told local media, calling the move a \u201cpolitical exclusion strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maurice Kamto, a former minister and prominent legal scholar, is widely regarded as the leading opposition figure capable of mounting a serious challenge to President Paul Biya. Now 92 years old, Biya has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and remains the world\u2019s longest-serving non-royal head of state.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has issued a cautionary statement, warning that the exclusion of prominent candidates could provoke civil unrest, particularly in the capital Yaound\u00e9.<\/p>\n
With tensions rising, Kamto\u2019s appeal to the Constitutional Council will be closely watched as a litmus test for Cameroon\u2019s democratic integrity ahead of the high-stakes October poll.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cameroonian opposition leader Maurice Kamto has officially filed an appeal with the Constitutional Council after being disqualified from participating in the country\u2019s upcoming presidential election, scheduled for October 2025. Kamto, who finished second to President Paul Biya in the contentious 2018 race, was barred last week by the national electoral body Elecam. The agency claimed<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,17],"tags":[285,787,914,911,912,915,913,386],"class_list":{"0":"post-13497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-amnewsworld","10":"tag-correspondence","11":"tag-elecam","12":"tag-maurice-kamto","13":"tag-paul-biya","14":"tag-political-crisis","15":"tag-presidential-elections-2025","16":"tag-yaounde"},"yoast_head":"\n