Developing
Maurice Kamto, who resigned as leader of the Mouvement pour la Renaissance du Cameroun (MRC), published on 20 October 2026 the memorandum he submitted to the African Union six months earlier on unconstitutional changes of government. The document sets out his case that the AU should act on the transfer of power in Cameroon. Kamto has not said what response, if any, the AU has given to the referral.
In a separate statement on 20 October 2026, Michèle Ndoki warned against the appointment of a vice-president by anyone other than the president in office. Ndoki did not name the person she was addressing, and she did not cite a specific constitutional provision. Her warning comes as the question of the vice-presidency has been raised in public debate, though no appointment has been announced.
The two statements were made on the same day but address different questions. Kamto's memorandum concerns the AU's framework on unconstitutional changes of government, adopted by the continental body to govern how it responds when a government is overthrown or power is transferred outside constitutional rules. The AU has not publicly responded to the memorandum, which Kamto first submitted in April 2026.
Ndoki's warning touches on the constitution's provisions for the executive. The 1996 constitution as amended in 2008 provides for a vice-president appointed by the president, but the office has never been filled. No decree has been published on the matter.
The MRC has been without a president since Kamto resigned. A party convention scheduled for 17 October 2026 at the Odza headquarters in Yaounde to elect his replacement has not been held, and legal challenges to the convention remain before the Centre Administrative Court. Tiriane Balbine Noah, a candidate for the leadership, asked the AU and the UN on 29 October 2026 to take up the situation in Cameroon.
Kamto's memorandum argues that the AU should treat the current government as having come to power through an unconstitutional change, a claim the government rejects. The government has not responded to the memorandum's publication.
The AU's next session of its Peace and Security Council, which handles unconstitutional changes of government, will show whether the memorandum is placed on its agenda. The Centre Administrative Court's ruling on the challenges to the MRC convention will determine whether the party elects a new leader. Any decree appointing a vice-president would be published in the Official Gazette.