MINAT Website Tampering Sparks Kamto Disqualification Fears Ahead of 2025 Elections — What We Know So Far

At the heart of the storm is Professor Maurice Kamto, the prominent opposition leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), whose anticipated candidacy now appears under threat from what critics describe as a coordinated campaign by the state apparatus.

A Purge in the Shadows

In recent weeks, attention has turned to an obscure yet telling alteration on the official website of the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT). The name of Anicet Ekane — long-standing president of the Mouvement Africain pour la Nouvelle Indépendance et la Démocratie (MANIDEM) — was quietly removed and replaced with that of a little-known figure, Yebga Dieudonné. The move raised eyebrows within the opposition and civil society.

"The regime is rewriting the political order in the dark, ahead of the elections," said a former official in Yaoundé who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A leaked screenshot from the official MINAT database, dated July 23, 2024, shows that MANIDEM’s presidency was suddenly attributed to Dieudonné Yebga, contradicting legal documents signed by Ekane and officially filed with the government in November 2019. In the document, Ekane formally appointed Isaac Ebanda Songue as party representative for the 2020 municipal elections, validating his role as party president at the time.

Shortly after the website edit, the MINAT portal became inaccessible. Activists and journalists say the outage was deliberate.

Institutional Sabotage or Legal Bureaucracy?

Critics allege this is part of a broader strategy to dismantle Kamto’s electoral coalition, which reportedly includes MANIDEM. The goal, they claim, is to nullify Kamto’s candidacy by sowing legal confusion among his allies and exploiting Cameroon’s rigid party law that prohibits coalitions without clear internal party leadership structures.

"This isn’t just about Ekane or MANIDEM," says Denis Nkwebo, veteran journalist and political analyst. "It’s about the state’s fear of an opposition consensus."

The Council Constitutional, ELECAM, and the office of Minister Paul Atanga Nji have not commented directly on the accusations. But critics say it is Atanga Nji, often described as President Paul Biya’s enforcer, who is orchestrating the disruption.

Anicet Ekane Speaks Out

Appearing live on STV this week, Anicet Ekane did not mince words.

"Those who understand the nation's interest choose Maurice Kamto," he declared.
"The regime has long decided to exclude Kamto, but we decided to stand on principles and the sovereignty of the people."

Ekane, a historic Marxist and one-time political prisoner under Biya, affirmed that his party’s collaboration with Kamto was built on shared values, not political opportunism. "We spent seven months aligning on the essentials: Cameroon’s sovereignty, returning power to the people, and imagining a nation beyond tribal and partisan divides," he said.

He dismissed allegations of tribal favoritism — a common regime tactic to sow division — noting that MANIDEM has never been an ethnically defined movement. "The resentment is real," he said, "but it’s curated by a regime that cannot imagine a Littoral man backing a Bamileke."

A Deliberate Invalidation Strategy?

According to sources close to the opposition, state actors have prepared falsified and backdated internal minutes to justify the appointment of Yebga as MANIDEM’s new leader — a legal sleight of hand that would render Kamto’s coalition invalid.

"It’s institutional fraud," said a constitutional law expert who reviewed the party statutes and the legal decision No. 54/D/MINAT from March 1995 that first legalized MANIDEM. "And it’s clearly aimed at sowing legal chaos during the vetting of presidential candidates."

The stakes are high: if Kamto is blocked, many in Cameroon fear widespread unrest. In the 2018 elections, Kamto’s post-election challenge led to mass protests and violent crackdowns. He was jailed in 2019, released months later under international pressure, and has since emerged as the face of democratic opposition.

Will the Ballot Box Be Enough?

The deeper question is whether change through elections is possible in Cameroon at all. President Paul Biya, now 92, has ruled since 1982. His ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC) controls every lever of state power — from the judiciary to the press and the electoral council.

On social media, the mood is increasingly skeptical. "Regime change through the ballot box in Cameroon is a fantasy," wrote one user. "The system is wired to reproduce itself."

Still, opposition figures like Ekane remain defiant.

“What I await on October 13,” he said on STV, “will be something monumental. Some will have strokes. The regime must prepare.”

Is this just the beginning of the 2025 electoral battle? Will regional loyalties override national unity once again? Can the opposition survive institutional sabotage? And is there any path left to peaceful democratic transition in Cameroon?