National Assembly President can refer presidential vacancy- Akere Muna

Barrister Akere Muna, 2025 presidential hopeful, took to his Facebook page to reveal that article 38 of law no—2004_004 of 21 April 2004 on the organisation and functioning of the Constitutional Council, gives states that the Constitutional Council can discuss presidential vacancy if it is referred to the Council by the President of the National Assembly( Cameroon’s lower house of parliament)

To do so, the law explicitly states that the President of the National Assembly, after obtaining the consent of the Bureau, can refer the matter of a potential presidential vacancy to the Constitutional Council.

However, this vacancy must be based on the provisions outlined in Article 6(4) of the Constitution. The article states that:

(4) Where the office of President of the Republic becomes vacant as a result of death, resignation or
permanent incapacity duly ascertained by the Constitutional Council, the polls for the election of the
new President of the Republic must be held not less than 20 (twenty) days and not, more than 40 (forty)
days after the office becomes vacant.
(a) The President of the Senate shall as of fight. act as interim President of the Republic until the new
President of the Republic is elected. Where the President of the Senate is unable to exercise these
powers, the shall be exercised by his Vice, following the order of precedence.

(b) The interim President of the Republic – the President of the senate or his Vice – may neither amend
the Constitution nor the composition of the Government. He may not organize a referendum or run for
the office of President of the Republic.

The claim that “no text specifies who can refer the matter to the Constitutional Council” is incorrect. The law designates the President of the National Assembly as the authorized party to initiate this process.

Based on the provided information, it’s clear that the law of 2004 establishes a specific procedure for declaring a presidential vacancy. The President of the National Assembly, with the consent of the Bureau, has the authority to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council, which then makes the final decision.

However, 2/3 members of the constitutional council must decide if to approve the National Assembly’s referral or decline the vacancy statement.

In Cameroon leaders of these institutions are members of the ruling CPDM party, no matter how long a president stays out of the country or is incapacitated, it can only be declared if the party bigwigs decide to do so because they are all covered by the law and can play with it to the advantage.