After Constitutional Council ruling: Akere insists Biya reigns, doesn't govern.

Akere, who is the former President of Bar Council, made the pronouncement in Yaounde on Friday, August 22. 

He was speaking shortly after the Constitutional Council handed down a verdict on his petition challenging the eligibility of President Biya, who has been in power for 43 years and is seeking an eight mandate.

The President of the Constitutional Council, Justice Clement Atangana, had, after hours of hearing, declared the petition, which anchored on Articles 118 (1), (2) and (3) of the Electoral Code, “admissible but unfounded” without any justification.

They have won without honour

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Barrister Akere Muna said he and his team had taken note of the decision but “strongly disagree on the substance”.

He described the victory of the CPDM team that represented Biya during the hearing as “a win without honour.”  He maintained that the incumbent leader is no longer in control of the Statecraft. 

“The President we have in this country reigns, maybe reigns but for sure, doesn’t govern us,” the presidential candidate insisted.

He also questioned why the Director of the Civil Cabinet, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, was unable to respond to a question which needed evidence that the Head of State is active. 

“He [Ayolo], was asked to give evidence and he said no, he has nothing to say,” Akere said, asserting that it was easy for the President’s collaborator to tell the court what he was doing or what he did the previous night as evidence of his being in control of events. 

Akere said the issue on the eligibility of Biya is a serious matter which touches the soul of the nation. 

“This is a serious matter. On October 12, 2025, Cameroonians will go into the polling booths with their ballots…and they may have to vote someone they might not have seen, or somebody they are not sure if elected, is going to act for him,” Akere stated. 

Victory for democracy, but many unanswered questions 

In a write up on his verified Facebook page, Akere Muna said the hearing is preliminary victory for democracy. He noted that the situation leaves many unanswered questions on the lingering mystery of the President’s eligibility. 

He described the admissibility, for the first time in the country’s recent electoral history, of the right of one candidate to challenge the eligibility of another, under Article 118, as a “preliminary victory for democracy”. 

Akere said by declaring the petition admissible, the Constitutional Council had affirmed the fundamental principle that a candidate’s eligibility is not a matter of opinion, but of law. The move, he said, “opens the door to citizen and legal oversight of power”. 

On the issue of merit, Akere detailed that while the Constitutional Council acknowledged the right to raise the question, its “answer leaves us deeply unsatisfied and raises serious concerns”.

“Our petition was supported by precise, documented, and undeniable facts, prolonged absences, failure to preside over constitutional institutions, problematic public appearances, and the damning testimony from the Minister of Justice, regarding a system of parallel directives,” he detailed. 

The petitioner said the silence of the Director of the Civil Cabinet at the hearing “speaks louder than all our arguments”. 

Akere added that his team “offered the defense a perfect opportunity to demonstrate, with evidence, that the President exercises his functions with full autonomy”.

Akere said “the deafening silence, validates in our view, all of our arguments”. 

Fight for truth, accountability continues

Akere maintained that though the Constitutional Council deemed that the evidence provided was insufficient to justify ineligibility, the substantive questions raised “remain entirely unanswered”. 

“The Cameroonian people deserve more than eloquent silence. They deserve transparency. They deserve to know who truly governs the country when their President is absent for weeks and when institutions no longer convene, and when governance appears to be exercised by proxy,” he insisted. 

Akere said his fight, which is not “personal” but “constitutional”, aims to “ensure that the highest office of the State is held by a fully autonomous person, as required by law”.

He said the “fight for clarity, accountability, and strict respect for our fundamental law does not end today”.

Akere vowed to continue using all “legal and democratic means to hold power accountable and to work towards a Cameroon where the legitimacy of its leaders is full, transparent, and beyond question”. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3544 of Monday August 25, 2025