Members and supporters of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement joins Prof. Maurice Kamto to celebrate his birthday.
Maurice Kamto (born 15 February 1954 in Bafoussam) is a Cameroonian politician.
He is the founder and president of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement political party.
He has been a member of the International Law Commission of the United Nations from 1999 to 2016.
Maurice Kamto was one of the two main agents in the Cameroonian delegation that successfully led the negotiations to resolve the matter of Bakassi, a peninsula disputed with neighboring Nigeria.
The other one being Professor Peter Ntamark. His decisive contributions gave him him the appointment of Minister-Delegate to the Minister of Justice in 2004.
In November 2011, Maurice Kamto resigned from the government .
After resigning from the government in 2011, Kamto formed his own political party, a new opposition party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC).
A kick-off move of his party merging multiple parties together to stand as strong opposition to the ruling CPDM was prohibited by the government on 13 August 2012.
Kamto ran as one of the presidential candidates in the 2018 presidential elections, where he represented his CRM party.
The elections results favored the incumbent President Paul Biya of the CPDM who won the election.
Kamto was declared runner-up, receiving 14 percent of the votes.
Kamto challenged the official results of the presidential election, where he declared himself winner of the election, together with his supporters.
His supporters held small-scale protests since then.
On 26 January 2019 Maurice Kamto and 200 of his supporters were arrested and locked up in Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde, Cameroon.
He was locked up for protesting against the results of the presidential election,and for declaring himself winner of the election.
Following an official release by President Biya, he was released on October 5,2019 along with other members leaders of his party, a day after the end of the Major National Dialogue.
Administrative Duties
Dean of the Faculty of Juridical and Political Sciences, University of Yaoundé II (1999-2004);
Minister Delegate to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice of Cameroon (2004-2011).
International Activities
Chairman of the International Law Commission (I.L.C) in 2011-2012;
Special Rapporteur of the International Law Commission (I.L.C) on the subject: “Expulsion of aliens” 2004-2016
Member of the International Law Commission (May 1999 – August 2016)
Co-agent, counsel and advocate for Cameroon before the International Court of Justice in the case concerning the Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria. (1994-2002);
Counsel and advocate for the Republic of Niger before the International Court of Justice in the case concerning the Frontier Dispute (Benin v.Niger). (2003-2005);
Counsel for Guinea (Conakry) in the Diallo case (Guinea v. Democratic Republic of the Congo). (2003-2004).
Counsel and advocate for the Republic of Niger before the International Court of Justice in the case concerning the Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso /Niger). (2010-2012);
Member of the Curatorium of the Hague Academy of International Law
Academic Achievements
- Degree in public law, Faculty of Law of the University of Yaoundé (1979).
- Graduate diploma in international studies and advanced diploma in European Community studies, Institut Européen des Hautes Etudes Internationales (IEHEI), Nice (1980).
- Diploma of advanced studies in international law, Faculty of Law (IHEI), Nice (1980).
- Diploma of advanced studies in basic public law, Faculty of Law (1980).
- Diploma from the Institute of Public Administration in Paris (1982).
- Doctorat d’Etat (doctorate) in law, Faculty of Law, Nice (1983).
Prizes won
He has won two major prizes:
Thesis prize awarded by the Faculty of Law, Nice (1983)
Prize awarded by the Académie des sciences d’outre-mer (1988).
Professional qualifications
- Agrégation (higher education teaching certificate) awarded by the French Faculties of Law (1988).
- Admitted to the Paris Bar in 1997.
Distinctions
Maurice Kamto have also been recognized in both national and international Order of valors
- Knight of the Order of Valour (Cameroon).
- Officer of the Order of Valour (Cameroon).
- Commander of the Order of Valour (Cameroon).
- Commander of the Order of Valour (Niger).
- Knight of the Order of Academic Palms, (African and Malagasy Council on Higher Education (CAMES)).
- Honorary Dean of the faculty of law and economic sciences of the university of Yaoundé II
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