Atanga Nji warns against Kamto’s nomination by rival parties ahead of 2025 Cameroon election
As Cameroon moves closer to its pivotal 2025 presidential election, the political atmosphere is growing increasingly fraught.
Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji has issued a stern warning to political parties considering nominating Maurice Kamto, the prominent opposition figure, outside of his own party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC).
Speaking at a press conference in Yaoundé, Atanga Nji employed a metaphorical but pointed remark: “We should not try to cry at the loss of someone more than he himself who is grieving.”
The phrase, widely interpreted as a message to smaller political factions seen as sympathetic to Kamto, reflects the administration’s discomfort with attempts to circumvent traditional party structures and legal hurdles.
His warning underscores a larger strategy—asserting tight administrative control over the candidacy approval process. The minister’s statement makes clear that even a nomination from another political party would not guarantee Kamto’s eligibility in the upcoming election.
This intervention has reignited debate about the impartiality of Cameroon’s political institutions. Critics have condemned it as a veiled move to exclude dissenting voices and marginalize the radical opposition under the pretext of legality. Supporters of the government, on the other hand, argue it’s a rightful assertion of electoral regulations.
Maurice Kamto, who finished second in the 2018 presidential contest, has remained a vocal critic of President Paul Biya’s long-standing regime. His potential candidacy in 2025 has been anticipated as a major shake-up in the race, drawing broad support from opposition circles.
However, the warning from Atanga Nji casts serious doubt on any strategy to present Kamto as a candidate via proxy parties. In the charged weeks ahead, political actors will have to navigate complex legal frameworks, intense scrutiny from authorities, and shifting alliances.
Without a dramatic shift in the political landscape, the vision of a unified opposition candidacy behind Kamto may already be in jeopardy.
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