Cameroon’s electoral commission has disqualified prominent opposition figure Maurice Kamto from running in the presidential election scheduled for 12 October.

The commission, ELECAM, named 13 approved candidates on Saturday, 26 July, with Kamto notably absent. Officials did not give a reason for his exclusion, though those who were rejected have two days to appeal.

The 71-year-old politician finished second in the disputed 2018 election with 14% of the vote as President Paul Biya secured another landslide victory amid allegations of fraud.

Unable to run under his own Cameroon Renaissance Movement due to a lack of elected party officials in parliament and local councils, Kamto had been nominated by the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (MANIDEM).

MANIDEM’s president, Anicet Ekane, criticised the exclusion as “arbitrary and provocative” while confirming that the party would challenge the decision before the Constitutional Council.

Biya – who is now 92 years old and has been in power since 1982 – is seeking an eighth term, making him the world’s oldest-serving head of state. His lengthy rule has been overshadowed by claims of corruption and a violent separatist conflict in the country’s English-speaking regions.

Security forces were deployed in Yaounde and Douala amid warnings from the United Nations that Kamto’s exclusion could spark protests near ELECAM headquarters. The final list of candidates will be confirmed after appeals are reviewed.

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