Cameroon Under Presidential Election Heat

July 19, 2025

(3 Minutes Read)

Events have taken a different turn in the last 24 hours with the filing of candidacies of Bello Bouba Maigari, currently a minister in the Paul Biya government, on behalf of the UNDP, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a resigned minister, Tomaïno Ndam Njoya of the UDC and Leon Theiller Onana, Paul Biya’s challenger in the CPDM.

Although candidacy submissions in Cameroon officially opened on Monday for October’s presidential election, it wasn’t until Thursday that things gathered momentum. The highlight was that President Paul Biya filed his candidacy via his proxy, Jean Nkuete.

The candidate of the historic Social Democratic Front deposited his files at Elecam’s regional headquarters for the North-West. A significant event for Osih in a town that is suffering from the crisis in the country’s English-speaking regions.

But events have taken a different turn in the last 24 hours with the filing of candidacies in Yaounde: Bello Bouba Maigari, currently a minister in the Paul Biya government, on behalf of the UNDP, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a resigned minister, Tomaïno Ndam Njoya of the UDC, and Leon Theiller Onana, Paul Biya’s challenger in the CPDM.

UPC presidential candidate Patricia Hermine Tomaïno Ndam Ndoya made a pitch for the female candidates in the race: “It’s high time Cameroonians understood that women are the voice of peace, of the peace we need and of sincerity. We’re going to work with all the categories, the intellectuals”.The most eagerly awaited candidacy on Friday was that of Maurice Kamto, a fierce opponent of the Yaoundé regime.