October 12 poll: Kamto should emulate Ousmane Sonko of Senegal!.

Dreadful tension was in the air. That is apparently why, last Friday, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security, said in a statement that: "In case of the rejection of certain candidates in this election, it is possible there will be protests in the centre of Yaounde and near the seat of ELECAM".

As it was expected, the Minister of Territorial Administration, Atanga Nji Paul, drew a red line against any protests before the official declaration by ELECAM.

Like a swarm of bees, anti-riot security forces descended on the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy, MANIDEM, headquarters in Douala, following the publication of the list of candidates retained by ELECAM.

Anicet Ekane, President of MANIDEM, the party which invested Prof Maurice Kamto, called a press conference after the rejection of their candidate, and as reported by Equinoxe TV, no reasons were given for the deployment.

There were also reports of the "militarisation" of strategic parts of the capital city, before the declaration as ELECAM convened a press conference in which it emerged that 70 other applicants had been disqualified with no reason given at the conference. 

The Guardian Post, however, learnt individual letters were sent to those rejected.

As seen in that of Kamto, which went viral on the social media, there were two candidacies from MANIDEM party. The rejection of Maurice Kamto’s candidacy is based on the fact that the former MRC leader was invested by Anicet Ekane’s MANIDEM while Yebga Dieudonné, also claiming to be leader of the party, filed for himself.

 Legally, Kamto has two days to petition the Constitutional Council. It is left for the Council to exhibit respect for the republican institutions, which ELECAM failed to do.     

Was it a respect for the "republican institutions", often highlighted by government apologists, when a 32-year compatriot submitted an application to ELECAM and it was received and deliberated on; when it is clear that only those above 35 can run for the summit job?

Are there not only 19 political parties that would have presented their applications, since those are the political parties with elected representatives in Parliament, Senate or Council?

Why were there up to 83 applications, when no independent candidate had signatures of 300 elected officials, First-Class traditional rulers from all 10 Regions of the country?. 

Were those frivolous applications in apparent violation of the rule of law not also a disrespect of the institution of ELECAM?

Why did the Electoral Board of ELECAM, using the taxpayers' money, waste valuable time to scrutinise documents that would have been dumped in the dustbin by a receptionist and violators even penalised?

Kamto is down and The Guardian Post urges the Constitutional Council to serve him justice, with all neutrality, transparency and nothing but respect of the rule of law, without the excuse of being "incompetent" or "hands tired."

Whatever the verdict, Kamto should accept it with dignity. He has demonstrated that he has the political momentum. He pulls unprecedented crowds in recent times. His movements and speeches have been variously described as giving the government sleepless nights and panic.

He came second at the 2018 presidential election and claimed he actually won, but the victory was 'stolen'. 

He ordered the boycott of the municipal and legislative elections, protesting against what he claimed were flawed Electoral Code and the conflict in the South West and North West Regions, which he said should be resolved before the vote.

The Electoral Code was amended to exclude parties that do not have elected officials, and his MRC was a victim. 

When he used MANIDEM to file his candidature, those he gave goose pimples to dangled speculations that he would be disqualified. 

Sensing that warp reason will collapse in law like a pack of cards, they said his resignation letter from MRC was not in accordance with the law and that too wobbled to nothing.

The joker was to fish out Yebga, who had retired to his village, to hurry to Yaounde, to submit his candidature. 

Kamto has demonstrated political clout, visibility on the ground, charisma and a following more than any of the 13 candidates on the running block.

He wants change. And if given justice, being a two-edged sword, tricks him down as his adversaries and even haters have been engineering, he will still not be out. He wants change and can still make that change without being a president.

He can learn from the Senegalese experience. 

Last year, Senegal’s top opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, like him, suffered major setbacks in his quest to contest the presidency after the Supreme Court upheld a defamation conviction against him and the Constitutional Council later rejected his application to be a presidential candidate.

He campaigned for Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was freed from prison and they won. He is revered. Akere Muna abandoned his candidacy in 2018 to support Prof Kamto. 

The Guardian Post appeals to him to reciprocate and go into an alliance with him, if justice does not favour him.

Akere's programme is in a nutshell "to liberate Cameroon," which he says has been “trapped in a cycle of empty promises” for 43 years. 

It has some similarity with that of Kamto.

With such an alliance, including Cabral Libii, Issa Tchiroma and Bello Bouba, if the dream comes through, they can, and should, have a formidable chance to bring the change of a regime that has since its creation never tasted the pudding of being in an opposition.

Kamto would then have fallen, gotten up and made a legacy of a democracy of power alternation that comes with justice, separation of power, peace, unity and development to follow.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3517 of Monday July 28, 2025