Yaoundé:  Divisional Officer blocks MRC Convention planned for Kamto’s return ⁰

Two days before the planned convention of the Mouvement pour la renaissance du Cameroun (MRC), the divisional officer of Yaoundé IV formally prohibited the gathering through an order issued on November 27. The administrative authority justified the ban by citing a “serious threat of public disorder” linked to the opposition party’s event.

Faced with this decision, the MRC leadership was forced to postpone the assembly. Mamadou Mota, the party’s interim president, announced that the meeting would be rescheduled to a later date. The setback is significant for the party, as the extraordinary convention of November 29 was expected to renew its executive board, notably marking the return of Maurice Kamto as president.

Kamto’s planned return to the MRC leadership

Maurice Kamto, the MRC’s emblematic leader, stepped down in July to avoid a conflict with the law when he ran in the October presidential election under the banner of Manidem. With no local elected officials, the MRC could not nominate a presidential candidate. Manidem, led by Anicet Ekane, agreed to sponsor Kamto on the condition that he formally join the party. To avoid belonging to two political parties at once, he handed the MRC presidency to first vice-president Mamadou Mota.

A leadership race without internal competition

The November 29 convention, which opened executive positions to competition, received only one candidacy for the presidency: Maurice Kamto’s. The assembly was therefore expected to confirm his return as party leader, closing the chapter opened by his temporary departure during the presidential race.

With the authorities’ decision to block the convention, a period of uncertainty opens for the MRC, which had intended to use the meeting to clarify its leadership and internal structure.

For the party, the convention was crucial to reorganizing ahead of the 2025 legislative and municipal elections. The administrative block comes at a decisive moment, just as the MRC sought to reposition itself on the political scene.

For the ruling camp, the stakes lie in keeping the MRC out of an upcoming local election cycle seen as challenging. The governing party recently posted its weakest result in more than thirty years in the latest presidential election.

Source: Sbbc