Candidatures : Scrutiny Time…

It is officially over for the submission of candidacy papers for the October 12 Presidential election. At the close of the process yesterday July 21, in accordance with Section 123 of the Electoral Code, over 40 files had been received by the elections management body.  With this stage now over, the Electoral Board of ELECAM, according to Section 125 will begin examining the candidacy papers, to see those who meet the eligibility criteria. There is a list of required documents obliged to be provided by either a representative of a political party or an independent candidate. After the scrutiny of the files, the Board will then make public its decisions. “Within no less than 60 days to the date of the poll, the Electoral Board shall draw up and publish the list of candidates. It shall forthwith notify the Constitutional Council of such list of candidates,” stipulates Section 128 of the aforementioned Code. This means the Electoral Board would have till August 13, 2025 to make known its decision. 
The team with Enow Abrams Egbe as the Board Chair thus begins meeting this Wednesday July 23, 2025. Understandably so, the Board waited to receive every candidacy file from the region given that some Presidential hopefuls submitted their documents in the regions, notably, Buea (South West Region), Ngaoundere (Adamawa Region), and Maroua (Far North Region) on the deadline of July 21. Forwarding the documents within 24 hours to the General Directorate of Elections as stated in Section 123(2) only meant the documents arrived Yaounde on July 22, 2025, thus obliging the Board to wait and receive all the files before beginning the scrutiny process. Going by the duties of the Board and the independent nature of the institution, all files are scrutinised on basis of the law, thus the need to commence when they have all been assembled at a single point.  
As expected of the Board, and as has been the case over the years, they would prioritise those whose documents are in conformity with the law. Simply put, the Board members will be scrutinising candidacy papers to see those who meet the stipulations of Sections 122 and 124 of the Electoral Code. However, the Constitution and other legal texts are applicable in th...