Cameroon’s constitutional court announced on Tuesday that it has disqualified President Paul Biya’s main challenger for the presidential election scheduled in October, according to his attorney.
The Constitutional Council determined that Maurice Kamto’s candidacy, a well-known rival of the long-serving president, “cannot be recognised as valid, resulting in his disqualification from participating in the presidential election,” Hippolyte Meli Tiakouang told the press following the session.
Kamto,71, placed second to Biya in the 2018 presidential race.
He intended to run as the representative for the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (MANIDEM) and had officially filed his candidacy last month.
In the 2018 election, Kamto represented the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC); however, according to the electoral regulations, political parties must have MPs in parliament or representatives in municipal councils to participate in the presidential election.
The MRC chose to boycott the last legislative and municipal elections held in 2020.
Biya, aged 92, has held the presidency since 1982 and is campaigning for an eighth term in office.
