MANIDEM Alleges State Conspiracy Against Kamto’s Candidacy

The African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (MANIDEM) has called for mass attendance at a Constitutional Council hearing on August 4, to address the controversial rejection of Maurice Kamto’s candidacy for the October 12 presidential election.

In a communique dated August 1, MANIDEM’s National President, Anicet Georges Ekane, denounced what he called a “state-orchestrated plot” involving the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT), Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), and a rival candidate, Dieudonné Yebga, to exclude Kamto, a frontline opposition figure, from the race.

The communique accuses MINAT, led by Minister Paul Atanga Nji, and ELECAM of engaging in “electoral gangsterism” through “forgery, apocryphal acts, state lies, inconsistencies, and electoral fraud.”

“The lies of MINAT, its apocryphal (forged) acts, and its inconsistencies, which collectively attest to the arbitrariness and political conspiracy targeting MANIDEM and its candidate, Maurice Kamto, as well as ELECAM’s wrongdoings, will be laid bare before the Cameroonian people and the world,” it states.

MANIDEM alleges that Dieudonne Yebga was used to justify Kamto’s exclusion on July 26, when ELECAM approved only 13 of 83 candidates, including President Paul Biya, who is seeking an eighth term at age 92.

Ekane further asserted that ELECAM, though legally independent, is “entirely subservient to the Biya-CPDM regime,” with members sacrificing their autonomy for “petty, selfish, and partisan interests.”

The statement points to alleged tampering with MINAT’s official website to falsely list Yebga as MANIDEM’s leader, describing it as a criminal act by Atanga Nji and Yebga, who “remain at large” despite these actions.

“Let them come and follow our lawyers’ pleadings and examine the evidence in our possession,” Ekane wrote, inviting the public, press, and international community.

Kamto, who is former president of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, joined MANIDEM to comply with Cameroon’s electoral code, which bars parties without elected officials from submitting candidates.

His legal team filed an appeal with the Constitutional Council on July 28, one of 35 appeals contesting ELECAM’s decisions.

The rejection, attributed to a “plurality of nomination”, has sparked widespread outrage, with Human Rights Watch warning that it “buries what remains of Cameroon’s democracy” and risks unrest.

The Constitutional Council hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. on August 4.