The campaign for the October 12, 2025 presidential election has not yet officially begun, and already Cameroon is being served a new reality of necro-politics. Barrister Akere Muna, the prominent international lawyer and candidate of the UNIVERS party, has filed a petition with the Constitutional Council to declare President Paul Biya, head of state and candidate of the CPDM, ineligible for the same election.
Reading Barrister Akere Muna’s correspondence, one immediate question arises: how do eminent jurists lose their way as soon as the presidential seat and its institutional role are involved?
1 – Ineligibility or pre-electoral litigation turned upside down
Barrister Akere Muna builds his argument on Article 118 of the Electoral Code, which states:
“Those who, by their own doing, have placed themselves in a situation of dependence or collusion with a person, an organization, a foreign power or a foreign state are ineligible. Ineligibility shall be declared by the Constitutional Council within three days of its referral, at the request of any interested person or of the public prosecutor.”
The eminent lawyer, in support of his petition, brings up all sorts of governance issues which in no way address the legal question posed by Article 118 of the Electoral Code. In fact, one would have expected arguments proving that Paul Biya was a spy for a foreign country or held a foreign passport. But nothing of the sort!
2 – Pre-electoral litigation after pre-electoral litigation
The Constitutional Council has already ruled on the pre-electoral disputes. Taking note of this, ELECAM’s Electoral Council has already begun preparations for the October 12, 2025 presidential election with the 12 definitively retained candidates. A candidate’s ineligibility can no longer be declared because the deadline has passed. At this point, only a voluntary withdrawal by a candidate, either in support of another or without backing anyone, remains possible.
In his necro-politics, Barrister Akere Muna is perhaps dreaming of the sinister and macabre provisions of Article 127 of the Electoral Code. Such a political maneuver is unhealthy and makes no sense within the framework of respect for one’s opponent.
3 – Fear of defeat: self-denial
Already a candidate in 2018 under the banner of the FDP, Barrister Akere Muna withdrew at the last minute to support another eminent jurist, Professor Maurice Kamto, associate professor of public law and candidate of the MRC. With an almost nonexistent electoral base, it is once again clear that, instead of choosing the exit option after failed attempts to build a coalition around himself, Barrister Akere Muna is trying to draw attention to himself while other candidates are fine-tuning their campaign strategies. His chances of making a respectable showing (victory being illusory) are nil.
4 – When eminent jurists mock institutions
The presidential election shows us that even the most eminent jurists struggle with the law. It is not a matter of ignorance of the rules, but of the will to twist norms for personal ambitions, at the expense of political ethics. The reality of the political game leads to the observation that the law is being instrumentalized by jurists who exploit their status to give free rein to the most far-fetched ideas. And of course, the average citizen understands nothing of it. Conditioned by the belief that the ruling order is driven only by power retention, he is easily caught in this game. And when the Constitutional Council rules the petition unfounded, the idea of a locked system will once again settle into public opinion. The eminent lawyer will thus have won his battle by exacerbating the political game and the institutional dynamics of the Republic.
The presidential seat definitely does harm to eminent jurists. It would probably be wise to avoid confusing politics with a courtroom where one indulges in showmanship. Aspiring to the presidency is a matter of state nobility, not of holding a prestigious law degree. And in this regard, eminent jurists still have much to learn.
On October 12, 2025, Cameroonians will elect a President of the Republic. They will not be looking for an expert in legal chatter, a reciter of statutory texts, or a drafter of petitions for courts and tribunals. The presidential election is not fought at the Constitutional Council (even if it plays a role), but in the conquest of voters. A big law degree is not the decisive argument at this level.
