On July 11, 2025, the President of the Republic of Cameroon convened the electorate. In other words, the President officially called on all citizens registered on the electoral roll to go to the polls and vote for the candidate of their choice in the election scheduled for October 12, 2025.
With this, the electoral process was set in motion; a total of 83 candidates submitted their applications to ELECAM within the deadline granted to them from the date of the convening of the electorate.
However, on July 26, during its third statutory session held in Yaoundé, the Electoral Board adopted a resolution rejecting 70 of the 83 candidacy applications for various reasons.
Following this, some candidates whose applications were rejected submitted appeals to the Constitutional Council within the 2-day period granted to them. The Constitutional Council is the body responsible for ensuring that laws and acts of public authority conform to the Constitution of Cameroon. It exercises constitutional review and primarily intervenes in electoral and referendum matters.
In accordance with the electoral law, the Constitutional Council rules within 10 days from the date the petition is submitted on any challenges or claims relating to the rejection or acceptance of candidacies, as well as those relating to the color, logo, or symbol adopted by a candidate.
It should be noted that the Electoral Code provides that an appeal is not suspensive, and that the petition initiating the appeal must specify the facts and legal grounds, failing which it will be declared INADMISSIBLE.
For now, since the appeals have already been filed, we await the Constitutional Council’s ruling to determine whether we will ultimately have only 13 candidates in the presidential race — or more.
To be continued…
Here we break down the law in simple terms so everyone can understand it and engage in meaningful discussions with others.
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