Constitutional Council Receives 3 Petitions To Drop Biya’s Candidacy

By Tata Mbunwe

The Constitutional Council has received 35 petitions relating to the publication of the list of candidates for the October 12 presidential election, three of which are calling for the rejection of President Paul Biya’s candidacy.

Biya, the world oldest Head of State who is seeking his 8th mandate at age of 92, and is among 13 candidates validated by Elections Cameroon out of 83 files received.

The petitions by Leon Theiller Onana, Bertin Kisob and Aboubakar Kamaldine Bello Yaya want the Constitutional Council to force Biya to retire by dropping his candidacy.

Leon Thieller Onana, a Municipal Coincillor of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, wants the Constitutional Council to drop Biya’s candidacy and reinstate his.

He had submitted his candidacy for presidency under the CPDM party, directly posing an internal challenge to Biya.

However, his file was rejected on claims that he had not been nominated by the CPDM party, which had rather nominated Paul Biya.

Onana is not giving up and wants Biya out of the Presidential race. He had previously argued, in several media outings, that Biya’s candidacy was illegal because his mandate as Chairman of the CPDM party had expired and the party had not held any congress to re-elect him.

Also demanding for Biya’s candidacy annulment is Bertin Kisob, president of the Cameroon Party for Social Justice, CPSJ, who has been jailed at the Kondengui prison in Yaounde for years in connection with the separatist conflict in the Anglophone Regions of the country.

His candidacy for the presidential election was also rejected by ELECAM, despite him being the first to submit among 83 applicants.

A statement from ELECAM cited nine reasons for his rejection. Among them are that his file lacked a certificate of nationality, tax compliance certificate, certificate of non-conviction, letter of nomination from his party, certificate of registration on the voter’s list, and a payment of a deposit of FCFA 30 million.

In his three appeals to the Constitutional Council he demands for the reinstatement of his candidacy, the disqualification of President Paul Biya, and the disqualification of all members of the Constitutional Council.

Several other rejected applicants are also seeking redress from the Constitutional Council. Among them is prominent opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who is asking the institution to reinstate his candidacy.

He was disqualified because his party, MANIDEM, submitted more than one candidate. Dieudonne Yebga, who claims to be MANIDEM’s president, had also submitted his candidacy for the party, challenging Kamto who has been approved by Anicet Ekane, popularly recognized as president of the party.