Candidacy Submissions may reach 30 by closing of Tuesday.
Candidacy submissions in Cameroon’s Presidential elections that officially opened on Monday 14 July has continued to swell, reaching 25 applicants by Friday July 18. The number may reach 30 by the closing date of Tuesday July 22.
KAMTO CLEARS AIR ON RESIGNATION FROM MRC
“I officially resigned from the MRC on June 25, joined MANIDEM on June 27, and was endorsed by the party on July 16, 2025,” Kamto declared at a Press briefing today.
This move puts an end to weeks of speculation. Kamto will now face the upcoming election under the MANIDEM flag, while Mamadou Mota becomes the new MRC president.
President Paul Biya filed his candidacy on Thursday via his proxy Jean Nkuete.
“We have submitted the file of the National President of the CPDM, for the post of President of the Republic, being aware that the Cameroonian people are mature enough to know the difference between what is done, what is being done,” Jean Nkuete told reporters.
CPDM Hierachy Quiet Over Double Candidacy Submission
The CPDM hierachy is yet to make any statement on the candidacy submission of one of their militants Leon Theiller Onana bringing the Party’s application file to two, against Cameroon’s electoral code.
A statement closely followed from Cabral Libi of the PCRN who also submitted file in Yaounde. The SDF leader Joshua Osih filed for his party in Bamenda
The candidate of the historic Social Democratic Front deposited his files at Elecam’s regional headquarters for the North-West. A significant event for Osih in a town that is suffering from the crisis in the country’s English-speaking regions.
“It’s very important to know that we have a political identity,” Osih told reporters after depositing his candidacy, “and this political identity has its roots in this town. And that’s why we have our national headquarters in this city. And so it was impossible to believe that we were going to file elsewhere.”
Picking up steam
But events have taken a different turn in the last 24 hours with the filing of candidacies in Yaounde: Bello Bouba Maigari on behalf of the UNDP, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a resigned minister, Tomaïno Ndam Njoya of the UDC and Leon Theiller Onana, Paul Biya’s challenger in the CPDM.
UPC presidential candidate Patricia Hermine Tomaïno Ndam Ndoya, made a pitch for the female candidates in the race: “It’s high time Cameroonians understood that women are the voice of peace, of the peace we need and of sincerity. We’re going to work with all the categories, the intellectuals”.
The most interesting candidacy on Friday was that of Maurice Kamto, a fierce opponent of the Yaoundé regime.
A candiate supported by Anicet Ekane’s Manidem. Kamto, who is causing quite a stir, defying all the predictions, did not speak to the press immediately. He and Anicet Ekane are due to hold a press conference this Saturday at their party headquarters, where they’re expected to unveil their strategy for the future.
FINAL LIST
However the final list of eligible candidates will only be known after ELECAM scrutiny,seperating the wheats from the chaffs.
