The Palais des Congrès in Yaoundé remains the epicentre of Cameroon’s pre-election legal drama as the Constitutional Council continues to sift through the flood of petitions challenging the upcoming 12 October presidential poll.
Inside the Constitutional Council
On Monday 4 August 2025, Council President Clément Atangana presided over a packed chamber where case after case was called, heard and mostly dismissed. By the close of the day, a string of petitions from political parties and independents candidates had been either rejected or declared inadmissible.
Among those struck out were two petitions from Abdoubakar Bello Yaya, an independent candidate, which were both ruled “inadmissible.” Abdou Wassiou of the PRUP party fared no better; his petition was thrown out in absentia.
Benoît Christian Ntimbane Mbomo sought to nullify ELECAM’s resolution of 26 July 2025, which published and closed the official list of presidential candidates. His request was declared “inacceptable” for lack of legal standing.
In a similar vein, Babio Ngono, chairman of the Democratic League (LD), petitioned for leniency to allow his party to complete its presidential election application. The Council dismissed his plea outright. Michel Bouba, another independent candidate also failed in his request for a “regularisation of candidacy.”
The tide of dismissals continued. Ramani Yie, an independent candidate who asked for more time to finalise his file at ELECAM, saw his second petition deemed inadmissible. Léopold Bessiping of the Rassemblement des Forces Écologiques pour la Relance de l'Économie (RFERE) suffered the same fate.
The petition by Jean Gwet of the Mouvement Patriotique pour le Changement du Cameroun, which sought validation of his candidacy, was rejected on its merits. Likewise, the National Union for Democracy and Progress (FSNC) failed in its attempt to block the candidacy of its own leader, Issa Tchiroma Bakary. André Marie Dibamou of the Jeunesse Démocratique du Cameroun also saw his petition ruled inadmissible.
Issa Tchiroma Bakary at the Constitutional Council
These rulings came against a charged political backdrop. Earlier, the Council postponed its decision in the high-profile case of Maurice Kamto and the MANIDEM party versus ELECAM and the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT), scheduling the verdict for tomorrow Tuesday 5 at 3:00 p.m. That case which is one of the most closely watched in this pre-election season was temporarily stalled by a dispute over whether Prof Kamto’s petition should be merged with that of Dieudonné Yebga. Kamto’s legal team strongly objected to the merger.
Outside the Palais des Congrès, the tension was palpable. Security forces reportedly deployed tear gas to disperse crowds that had gathered in Yaoundé, highlighting the high stakes of the moment.
With more than two dozen petitions still pending and the Kamto ruling yet to be delivered, the Constitutional Council’s pre-election marathon is far from over. For now, the political class and the country wait.
By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Newsroom with reports from Yaoundé
Email: hilltopvoicesnewspaper@gmail.com
Tel: 6 94 71 85 77