Professor Eric Essono Tsimi, 44, a 2025 presidential aspirant has disclosed that despite spending huge sums of money to put together requirements for an independent candidate for the election, bribery and corruption still prevented him from acquiring all, pushing him to quit.
Addressing reporters in Yaounde hours to the close of the period for the submission of candidacy files on Monday July 21, he said he could not be part of the political theatre where candidates submit incomplete files.
He disclosed that while he was struggling to get a complete file, “gatekeepers demanded money, favors, or silence, sometimes all three…”
To him the unrest in the North West and South West Regions, the Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North, and other issues facing the country are proves that the decades-long Biya regime has lost hold of the country.
Below are excerpts from his declarations to the press.
Why did you not file my papers for the 2025 presidential election?
Because filing an incomplete dossier would be an empty symboll refuse political theatre. The law demands either a full party endorsement or legalized signatures from every region. I secured most of them; a few were blocked. Without all, the file is void. I will not pretend, and I will not dangle false hope in front of people who already risked everything for change.
Isn’t that a personal defeat?
It’s not a defeat; it’s a strategic pivot. One candidacy was never the goal. Systemic change is. You can’t fight an arm‑wrestler with a handshake. We need bigger leverage first.
What blocked you exactly?
Gatekeepers demanded money, favors, or silence, sometimes all three. I spent FCFA 34 million (€52,000) of personal funds and still met walls built on corruption. When local chiefs take bribes to stop signatures, democracy is suffocated at the village level.
But we saw many candidates deposit today. Doesn’t that prove openness?
It proves choreography, not openness. A parade of dossiers is easy; validation is where the script flips. Look at 2018: 29 submissions, 9 approvals. The theatre repeats itself. A crowded starting line hides a rigged finish line.
What do you think about the security situation in Cameroon?
Over one million Cameroonians are displaced. That alone should pause any victory dance. The North‑West and South‑West wars have killed more than 6,000; Boko Haram still hunts in the Far North. Elections don’t erase bullets. Running for office inside a moving war zone is not democracy, it’s denial.
Will you endorse someone else?
Absolutely. Anyone but Biya. I’m talking to the serious contenders now; unity is the only winning strategy. No ego, no fragmentation, just one ticket with a real shot.
Are you leaving politics?
Not for a second. This is a pause in form, not in conviction. Politics is bigger than a presidential form; I’ll keep fighting in classrooms, communities, and coalitions. I chose honesty over spectacle. Democracy is not a cameo role. We’ll rewrite the script. Hope is stronger than fear especially when fear is 43 years old.
