2025 Presidential Election: ELECAM Receives The Files Of Two Candidacies From The Ruling CPDM – PAUL BIYA And LEON THEILLER ONANA

But contrary to what some people think, the CPDM matter is different from that of UPC in 2018. Why it will be easy for ELECAM or the Constitutional Council to take a decision on the matter.

  Theiller ONANA seems to be somebody that finds faults wherever he goes.  He started politics in Ben Muna’s AFP in 2009, found faults and left. He later joined MRC, found problems and left. He entered the CPDM just in 2019, and has already found lots of faults. Where next?  

Leon Theiller Onana, the CPDM councilor of the Monatele Council in Lekie Division of the Centre Region, has been in the news in the last few months in the country. First, Councilor Theiller Onana made bold to criticize the leadership of the his party, the CPDM, for the fact that the party’s congress has not held for several years, claiming that the mandate of all  members of  the Central Committee, of the CPDM, and especially that of the National President of the party, Paul Biya, have long expired. The last congress of the ruling CPDM, held in 2011.  The CPDM congress is supposed to hold every five years, which means that the party was supposed to have by now held two other congresses – one on 2016, and another one in 2021.

Councilor Theiller Onana who insisted that the mandate of Paul Biya as National President of the ruling CPDM had long expired, strongly argued that he was thus not supposed to be the statutory or natural presidential candidate of the CPDM for the 2025 presidential election, except the party held a congress immediately and renewed the mandate of members of the Central Committee   and that of the National President of the party, Paul Biya.  The General Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPDM ignored him.

But it should be noted that it is clearly stated in the CPDM Constitution that in the absence of the congress of the party, the Political Bureau of the party can prolong the mandate of members of the Central Committee, including that of the National President of the party.  The General Secretariat of the CPDM Central Committee claims that in the absence of the CPDM Congress, the Political Bureau met and prolonged the mandate of members of the Central Committee, including the National President of the CPDM.  Whether the CPDM Constitution is good or bad, is not the issue here.

Leon Theiler Onana Goes To Court / Declares Candidacy

Meanwhile, Leon Theiller Onana filed a case at the Yaounde Count of First Instance, praying the court to order the leadership of the CPDM to organize a congress before the 2025 presidential election. The court dragged on a bit with the case, and then declared that it was incompetent to handle the matter.  A disappointed Councilor Onana then declared his candidacy for the 2025 presidential election. He said he was the CPDM candidate.

On Thursday, July 17, 2025, a high powered delegation led by the Secretary General of the ruling CPDM, Jean Nkuete, and in which was the Director of Civil Cabinet at the Presidency, Mvondo Ayolo Samuel,  went to the  headquarters of Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, where they deposited the file of the candidacy of the President Paul Biya.  The next day which was Friday, July 18, the file of the candidacy of Leon Theiller Onana, was received at the ELECAM headquarters. He sent his file through CAMPOST, and an agent of CAMPOST deposited the file at the ELECAM headquarters.

 This CPDM Matter Is Different From The UPC Matter of 2020

The issue of ELECAM having received the files of two candidates from the CPDM, for the 2025 presidential election, has sparked a lot of anxiety especially on the social media as well as in the traditional media. In the social people, some people already foresee the rejection of the files of the two candidates from the CPDM, as happened with the UPC at the 2020 legislative and municipal elections.

As regard the UPC case, there were two camps, one led by Hon Bapooh Lipot Robert, and the other led by Dr Balenguel Nkot Pierre, Both camps laid claim to the post of Secretary General of the UPC Party.  Each of the camp sent in a list of candidates, with the investiture signed by its own Secretary General. Considering that there was a matter pending in court related to the conflict between the two camps, and that the two camps were not willing to sit down and come up with a single list, the Constitutional Council that handled the matter concerning the legislative election, thus rejected the two files.

Legal minds say with the present case of the CPDM, the matter is different. What the Commission at ELECAM that will work on the files of presidential candidates, will do in the case of the two candidates from the CPDM, is that the Commission will simply look at the CPDM Constitution, and see who is, or who are those, that are, competent to sign the investiture for the party’s candidate for the presidential election.  Then they next look at the file of Paul Biya and that of Leon Theiller Onana, and see if they both have letters of investiture from the CPDM, and if they were signed by the competent authorizes as stated in the Constitution of the party. The one that is not signed, by the competent authority, will be simply be rejected. It will not be the place of ELECAM to get into issues like when the last congress of the CPDM held, and so on. That does not concern ELECAM in this matter.

It should be noted that the leaders of some major opposition political parties like Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njioya of CDU, and Issa Tchoroma Bakary of FSNC, declared their candidacies for the 2025 presidential election, when the congresses of their parries have not held to designate them as presidential candidates.  Each party has its constitution.

 Leon Theiller Onana Is A Problem For Political Parties

Meanwhile, Leon Theiller Onana’s political life shows that though he is quite a courageous young man, he finds faults in all political parties that he enters.  It should be noted that the CPDM is his third political party. Leon Theiller Onana started his political career not long ago, precisely in 2009, where he joined Ben Muna’s AFP in Yaounde. He was quite young then. There are pictures which show him and a few other young AFP militants with Barrister Ben Muna, whom they considered as their idol in politics. But before the 2011 presidential election in which Ben Muna was a candidate, Leon Theiller Onana had already founds faults in the way AFP was being run, and left.

Leon Theiller Onana was out of politics for a number of years, and later joined Maurice Kamto’s MRC. After a few years, he also found faults with the way the MRC was being run, and left the party in 2019, and joined the CPDM. Fortunately for him, he was put on the CPDM list for the 2020 municipal elections in his native Monatele Municipality in Lekie Division of the Centre Region.  The CPDM won the election by simple majority, and Leon Theiller Onana became councilor.

There is no doubt that Leon Theiller Onana will sooner or a bit later leave the CPDM.  After the CPDM, it might become difficult for him to enter another major party, as party leaders have certainly taken note of him.