Maurice Kamto: Silence as Strategy or Silent Retreat?
By Synthia Lateu
Opposition leader Maurice Kamto has maintained a noisy silence since the Constitutional Council disqualified his candidacy for the October presidential election. Observers say his restraint may be a deliberate strategy , a moment of observation before a political rebound.
Since being excluded from the race, Kamto has neither issued voting instructions to his supporters nor joined any opposition coalition seeking to unseat President Paul Biya. This ambiguity has fueled suspense around his political future and that of his large electoral base.
In one of his regular reflections, MK’s Thoughts N°082-2025, Kamto dropped a cryptic hint about his current posture: “…Sometimes the game senses danger; then it stops, sniffs, looks around…” To his supporters, this remark suggests he is carefully watching the political landscape before making his next move.
Engaged rapper and outspoken CRM supporter, General Valsero, echoed this interpretation in a recent podcast. According to him, Kamto believes the regime, after sidelining him, may be laying a trap to lure him back into the game. Valsero cited examples of politicians such as former ministers and presidential candidates Bello Bouba Maigari and Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who, despite targeting the same northern constituencies, have refrained from forming a coalition. He argued that such maneuvers are part of the ruling RDPC’s strategy to fragment the opposition and corner Kamto.
Valsero further highlighted that any participation by Kamto in the current electoral process would only lend credibility to the Elections .
He recalled that in 2020, Kamto boycotted legislative and municipal elections after what he described as a “political trap” set by the regime. That decision, Valsero claims, has remained a source of resentment from the ruling elite.
Kamto himself reinforced this narrative in a speech on August 7: “This regime never accepted the fact that we avoided the big political trap of the 2020 legislative and municipal elections by choosing to boycott. The regime wanted to destroy the CRM through those elections and never forgave us for escaping.”
Despite his exclusion, analysts describe Kamto as the most courted of all the disqualified candidates. His next political alignment or lack thereof ,remains a matter of heated debate.
Kamto resigned last month as president of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) to run the presidential race under the MANIDEM party, amid allegations that the regime fabricated internal hurdles to prevent the CRM from fielding a candidate. Meanwhile, CRM’s interim president, Mamadou Mota, has convened the party’s executive board for September 6, leaving many to wonder whether Kamto could eventually be reinstated.
For now, his silence hangs heavy , leaving supporters and opponents alike guessing whether it signals withdrawal, strategy, or a calculated comeback
