A communiqué shared on Facebook on September 12, 2026, claimed that Maurice Kamto, former national president of the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), had officially launched a new political party called the Alliance for Democratic Refoundation of Cameroon (ARDC). The post said Kamto called on citizens and MRC militants to join the new party to build a dynamic of unity and change. However, the post and the accompanying note attributed to Kamto are fake.
PesaCheck analyzed the communiqué and found it to be false. The fact-checking organization found no information confirming the creation of a new party by Kamto after his resignation as president of the MRC. Instead, PesaCheck found articles and publications sharing the MRC's denial, stating that the communiqué circulating about the creation of a new party by Kamto is totally false.
The MRC's Secretary General, Roger Justin Noah, confirmed that the communiqué is fake, saying Kamto did not create a new party and is still an MRC militant. Noah emphasized that Kamto would not even think of creating a new party. PesaCheck contacted Kamto, who stated that he had quit as president of the MRC but remained a militant and had not initiated any action to create another party.
According to Cameroonian law No. 90/056 of December 19, 1990, on the creation of political parties, no one can belong to more than one political party. Kamto is still a member of the MRC party. PesaCheck contacted Juliette Mballa, Communication Officer at the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT), who stated that the ARDC does not exist in the file of political parties in Cameroon.
The Ministry of Territorial Administration has not granted any authorization for the creation of new political parties since 2023, when 40 political formations were legalized. The rumor about the creation of a new party by Kamto emerged after his resignation as national president of the MRC, but he remains a member of the party.
PesaCheck's verification is part of its continuous effort to examine content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms. The organization partners with Facebook and similar social media platforms to help separate facts from fiction and provide the public with a deeper understanding of the content they see in their social media feeds.
PesaCheck is a fact-checking initiative that focuses on public finances in Africa, co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and incubated by Code for Africa. The organization aims to help the public distinguish reality from fiction in public statements about figures that shape the world, with a focus on statements about public finances that shape the delivery of public services related to sustainable development goals.
Key points
- A Facebook post claiming Maurice Kamto created a new political party called Alliance for Democratic Refoundation of Cameroon is false.
- Maurice Kamto remains a militant of the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC) despite resigning as its president.
- The Alliance for Democratic Refoundation of Cameroon (ARDC) does not exist in the file of political parties in Cameroon.
