Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
Unlike In Several African Countries Like Gabon, In Cameroon, The CPDM Regime Has Through The Controversial Electoral Code, Made It Impossible For Anybody To Meet Up With The Conditions To Run As An Independent Candidate. At The 2025 Presidential Election, Dr Barrister Asong Michael, And Dr Valere Bertrand Bessala, For Example, Tried In Vain, And Finally Gave Up.
In Cameroon, there are on paper two legal possibilities by which a presidential aspirant can be a candidate in the presidential election. The first option is for a presidential aspirant to be given investiture by a political party qualified to do so, to be the party’s candidate for the presidential election. The Law demands that the presidential aspirant or a party’s presidential candidate, has to a militant of that party, and has the proof, which is, a membership card.
The alternative is for presidential aspirants to run as independent candidates. In several African countries, the easiest way to run for the presidential election, especially by those presidential aspirants who are not members of political parties, is to run as an independent candidate. More so, in many political parties in Cameroon, just like in many African countries, the National Presidents of a parties, are either directly or indirectly the natural candidates of the party for presidential elections. Thus the chances for any other member of the party to be designated or ‘selected’ as the party’s candidate, is very slim.
In several African countries, the conditions for nationals or citizens to run as independent candidates, are comparatively quite easy, for those that have not been involved in criminal activities, or better still, those that do not have, or have not had, serious problems with the Law. At the last presidential elections which held in neighbouring Gabon in April 2025 for example, seven out of the eight candidates were independent candidates. There is nothing like collecting the signatures of some personalities.
Very Tough Conditions In Cameroon
But in Cameroon, the CPDM regime has through successive Electoral Codes, including the current Electoral Code that was adopted at the National Assembly in 2012 only by CPDM MPs, laid down very tough conditions for any Cameroonian to qualify, to run in the presidential election as an independent candidate. Besides other normal documents required, the current Electoral Code demands for example that, any presidential aspirant who wants to run as an independent candidate, has to get a total of 300 signatures of some particular personalities laid down in the Electoral Code. The personalities are First and Second Class Chiefs, as well as elected officials, who include members of parliament and councilors (including mayors). From the surface level, it is easy to obtain the signatures of these personalities. But NO!
The major problem is that due to constant election riggings and manipulations by the ruling CPDM Party, these elected officials, including First and Second Chiefs, are almost all militants of the ruling party, and do not accept to give their signatures to persons, that will challenge their party’s candidate at the presidential election. Not only so. One other thing too is that most of these personalities are also scared of being victimized by the CPDM regime. If they give signatures to presidential aspirants, that wants to run as an independent candidate in the presidential election, and the regime or CPDM hierarchy gets the information, the persons The CPDM regime, or the hierarchy of the CPDM, will brand the CPDM militants as opposition, or enemies in the house. .
For one thing too, there is the possibility that if a presidential aspirant who wants to run as an independent candidate, succeeds to get the signature of a First or Second Class Chief, or an elected official, they will be easily identified. For one thing also, a presidential aspirant has to go to the local administrative authority of that local administrative unit, known as the Divisional Officer (DO), to sign and confirm that the traditional authority or elected official who has given his signature, is actually a First or Second Chief, or an elected official in that locality.
Fear Of Being Considered As A Traitor
Some people might not see anything wrong, with the involvement of local administrative authorities at the level of the Sub – division, as it might be seen by them just as a normal way of verification or confirmation by a DO. But the reality is that the involvement of DOs, is a strategy by the CPDM regime, meant to rapidly expose any First or second class traditional ruler, CPDM MP or councilor, that gives his signature to an ‘opposition man’, out to challenge the natural candidate of the ruling CPDM Party, at the presidential election, in the name of an independent candidate. It should be noted that in Cameroon, administrative authorities (Governors, SDOs, and DOs), that are normally supposed to be neutral in politics, all operate as militants of the ruling CPDM Party, for fear of victimization by the CPDM regime. There also many of the administrative authorities, who exploit their attachment or loyalty to the ruling CPDM party, to lobby for promotion by the Government.
The CPDM regime has also in text made traditional rulers as auxiliaries of the administration. The CPDM regime or government has as well placed traditional rulers on monthly salaries or stipends. 200,000 FCFA for First Class Chiefs, 100,000 FCFA for second class chiefs, and 50,000 FCFA for Third Class Chiefs. These have turned traditional rulers to be more of members of the ruling CPDM party, or local leaders of the ruling CPDM in the different villages. And so with the exception of a few traditional rulers in Cameroon, traditional rulers in the country have in general become, very partisan, in politics.
Meanwhile, the tendency is that when a DO is brought a document which shows that a First Class or Second Class Chief, or a CPDM member of parliament or a Councilor in his administrative unit, has given his signature to a presidential aspirant (‘opposition’) who want to run as an independent, the DO immediately alerts the CPDM hierarchy or the regime, that also immediately resort to treat the personality as a traitor. This is one of the major reasons why Chiefs, CPDM MPs and councilors are scared to give their signatures to persons who want to run as independent candidates, in the presidential election
It should be noted that it is also not easy for presidential aspirants who want to run as independent candidates, to get the signatures of the few opposition parliamentarians and councilors around. This s because those parliamentarians and councilors are mostly militants of big opposition parties, that also regularly put up candidates at presidential elections. The fear also is that if any of them is known to have given his signature, to somebody who wants to runs as an independent candidate, the person would be considered in his party as being out to support a different candidate at the presidential election, and thus considered, as well as treated as a traitor.
There is no doubt that in drafting that aspect of the Electoral Law, the CPDM Government or regime, knew what they were doing. They definitely knew that with the current state of things, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for anybody to be able to get the 300 signatures from members of the specific groups of personalities, to qualify to run as an independent candidate in the presidential election.
30 Signatures From Each Of The 10 Regions.
One other thing which makes this issue of 300 signatures much more complicated to all presidential aspirants that want to run in the presidential election, as independent candidates, is the fact that the total of 300 signatures they are required to collect, have to be collected from First and Second Chiefs, and elected officials (MPs and Councilors), from all the 10 regions of the country. To be precise, the controversial Electoral Law demands that each presidential aspirant wanting to run as an independent candidate in the presidential election, should collect 30 signatures from each of the 10 regions. But considering how divided Cameroon or Cameroonians, have become under the Biya or CPDM regime with tribalism and other forms of division, one can imagine the difficulties that somebody from one part or one region of the country, can face if he goes to some particular regions of the country, to ask for signatures from chiefs, MPs, and councilors. This is vice versa.
Imagine a presidential aspirant who is of the Bamileke tribe, going to President Biya;s South Region, to the Beti land (Centre Region), or to the Sawa land (Littoral Region), to request for the signatures of chiefs and MPs. Imagine how complicated it can be for a presidential aspirant from the Grand South, to go the three regions of the Grand North, that more so want power return to the Grand North, to request for the signatures of traditional rulers and MPs. It will be the same complicated situation, if a presidential aspirant from the Grand North, comes to the Grand South, to seek for the signatures of MPs and traditional rulers. Even when it comes to the level of the two Anglophone regions, the situation is also complicated. Putting the aspects of being considered by the CPDM as a traitor, and being frank, how many traditional rulers or MPs of the Southwest Region, can accept to give their signatures to a presidential aspirant who is from the ‘sister region’, that is, the Northwest Region?
There is no doubt that this condition in the Electoral Code that, a presidential aspirant that wants to run as an independent candidate, should collect 30 signatures in each of the 10 regions, was definitely designed by the CPDM regime to make it impossible for somebody to run as an independent candidate, in a presidential election in Cameroon.
Corruption – Allegations That Some Chiefs And Others Asked For Money
Meanwhile, some of the presidential aspirants at the 2025 presidential elections, who went out on an operation to try to collect the 300 signature to run as independent candidates, complained that some of the First and Second Class Chiefs, as well as some elected officials, that they contacted to get their signatures, demanded that they be given money, for them to give the signatures. More so, it was not even certain whether those traditional authorities or elected official will give the signatures, if given the money. There was also the fact that presidential aspirants did not expect such an illegal demand of money, and so were not prepared. Imagine that an aspirant for the presidential election is asked to give 500,000 francs CFA, or 1 million francs CFA to get one signature, how much will the person have to spend to get 300 signatures! This is practically impossible for the presidential aspirants wanting to run as independent candidates, which as we saw at the 2025 presidential elections, are mostly ordinary Cameroonians with little financial means.
The Tough Conditions Frustrated Several Presidential Aspirants
Meanwhile, the difficult conditions that make it impossible for a presidential aspirant, to be able to run as an independent candidate in the presidential election in Cameroon, frustrated a number of serious Cameroonians that had the intention to be candidates at the 2025 presidential elections. After declaring their candidacies for the 2025 presidential elections, they went out to the field and struggled for a long time to try and collect the 300 signatures required for them, in a bid to be able to run as independent candidates. But at the end of the day, not one of them succeeded. And so they ended up being unable to be candidates in the 2025 presidential elections.
We are not talking here about the dozens of irresponsible persons, jokers in the park at the 2025 presidential election, who merely declared their candidacies to seek for notice, and at the end they went and deposited empty files at Elections Cameroon. A presidential aspirant like Douala based Dr Barrister Asong Michael, for example, declared his candidacy for the 2025 presidential election, some three years before the election, and started work on the political project. But when the time came, he ran around the country, hunting for the 300 signatures, in vain, and finally gave up. It was same story with Dr Valere Bertrand Bessala of ‘Parti Jouvence”. He and his followers mobilized in different parts of the country to try to get the 300 signatures, in vain. He finally announced his frustration and decision to give up his intention to run in the October 12, 2025 presidential election, as an independent candidate.
