2025 Presidential Election: MAURICE KAMTO’S Candidacy Might Have Problems Over Articles 5 (2) And 6 Of Law No. 90/056 of 19 December, 1990.

Kamto’s Resignation Letter From MRC, Was Supposed To Get To Minister of Territorial Administration Through The Centre Governor, Before He Was Given Investiture By His New Party, MANIDEM, On July 16, 2025.  But That Seemed Not To Have Been The Case.

The candidacy of the former National President of MRC, Prof Maurice Kamto, for the 2025 presidential election in Cameroon, seems to be heading for another problem, which is that of the non-respect of Articles 5 (2) and 6 of Law No.90 / 056 of 19 December, 1990, which also means violation of Article 3 (2) of the same Law related to political parties.

Article 3 (2) of Law No. 90/056 of 19 December 1990 related to political parties,  states that nobody is supposed to belong to more than one political party. Taking the case of Prof Maurice Kamto which is what concerns us here, Article 5 (2) of the Law, states that when the President of a political party, resigns and joins another party to be the presidential candidate, he has to write to the Governor of his region, attaching relevant documents, to inform him that he has resigned from his former party. Article 6 adds that the Governor upon receiving the file has a maximum of 15 days, to transit the file to the Minister of Territorial Administration. It is when the minister receives the file and validates it, that the resignation becomes effective. It is also then that the person can be given the investiture by his new party. But it is being reported that Prof Maurice Kmato did not respect Articles 5 (2) and 6 of Law No. 90 / 056 of 19 December, 1990.

Kamto Says He Resigned From MRC On June 25    

Prof Maurice Kamto said at a press conference in Yaounde on Saturday, July 19, 2025, that he resigned from MRC Party on June 25, and joined MANIDEM on June 27, 2025. He said he received his investiture from MANIDEM on Thursday, July 17, 2025. It should be noted that the Governors of the 10 regions had their first biannual meeting in Yaounde on July 16 and 17, 2025, chaired by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji.  Drawing from the declaration that Minister Atanga Nji made at that meeting about Maurice Kamto and the 2025 presidential election, he thought that Kamto was then still  the National President and presidential candidate of MRC,  that was insisting he would go in for the presidential election on the ticket of the MRC Party, based on his argument on the Imperative and Representative Mandates.

If the Centre Governor and Minister Atanga Nji, had on July 17 when Kamto received his investiture letter from MANIDEM, not yet received the file of this resignation from MRC, then there is a problem. And when more so, the problem of Kamto’s non respect of the Law touches Minister Atanga Nji, it becomes more complicated. This issue of the apparent non – respect of Articles 5 (2) and 6 of Law No. 90 / 056 of 19 December 1990 by Prof Maurice Kamto, has led many CPDM people to the hasty conclusion that his candidacy will be rejected by the Constitutional Council.

Even the answer to the question, as to when Prof Maurice Kamto actually resigned from MRC, is not certain. As aforementioned, Kamto declared at the press conference in Yaounde on Saturday, July 19, that he resigned from MRC on June 25 and joined MRC on June 29, 2025. But in an interview that the President of MANIDEM, Ekane Anicet, granted Balafon Radio in Douala on Thursday, July 17 when he signed the letter of investiture for Kamto, he was asked whether Kamto had resigned from MRC. Ekane hesitated, and then said that he will resign. This either meant that by day of July 17 Kamto had not yet resigned, or that the President of MANIDEM did not know about his resignation, which should be strange.

Whatever the case, as the Deputy Secretary General of the ruling CPDM, Minister Gregoire Owona, concluded in English in a social media post that he wrote in French, and  in which he hinted on the problem over Kamto’s resignation letter,  let’s wait and see.