Cameroon Presidential Election – Twenty-three Candidates

The list of candidates that have qualified for the Cameroon presidential election to be held on 9th Oct 2011, had finally been declared by the electoral body of Cameroon, which is also known as ELECAM. Out of the 52 candidates who applied for the election campaign, only 21 candidates had been initially selected for 2011 Cameroon presidential election.

The chairman of the board of ELECAM, Dr Fonkam Samuel Azu’u declared the list of the qualified candidates during a press briefing with the Cameroon news media in Yaoundé. He said that all the applications were examined meticulously and it was found that out of the 52 applications, only 21 applications had met the legal requisite. According to the latest Cameroon news, the reasons for rejecting the applications were that a few documents lacked legalized signatures while in other cases candidates had not deposited the necessary amount.

After the final list of candidates was released, the disgruntled hopefuls staged a mild protest outside the electoral commission office in the capital, Yaoundé. The disqualified candidates also threatened to disrupt the upcoming elections

Cameroon presidential election candidates appeal to supreme court

The disqualified candidates then appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court stood-in as the Constitutional Council, in a public hearing on September 20, 2011 in Yaoundé, accepted the candidacies of Anicet Ekane, candidate of the MANIDEM party and Daniel Soh Fone, candidate of the Unified Socialist Party. The Constitutional Council accepted Anicet Ekané’s candidacy because ELECAM insisted that all candidates standing for the Cameroon presidential election should submit a tax certificate but according the law only candidates doing remunerative work must furnish the tax certificates and Anicet Ekané does not hold such a job.

Time mismanagement concern for Cameroon presidential election

According to the Cameroon news media, some people have shown concern over the time mismanagement by the election commission, ELECAM. They think that there is less time left between the end of the voter registration process in late August and the October Cameroon presidential election poll.

Dr. Fonkam said that he is well prepared for the October poll and that the issue of time mismanagement is not true. In fact he has assured to the citizen of Cameroon that the vote will be conducted in a fair, free and transparent manner.

The Cameroon presidential election 2011 will be held as scheduled on the 9th of October 2011.