At the end of the hearing on April 23, 2026, the Mfoundi High Court granted the adjournment at the request of Okala Ebode’s counsel.
The court set May 28 for the continuation of the trial in the case opposing Okala Ebode to the Cameroon Renaissance Movement and Mamadou Mota, vice-president of the said party. The former asks the court to annul the decision by which the MRC National Mediation and Arbitration Committee excluded him from the party. According to the report by Me Hippolyte Meli, MRC lawyer, the plaintiff’s counsel requested the adjournment to allow him to produce a reply to the defendants’ conclusions produced this Thursday.
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In these conclusions, Mamadou Mota requests a stay until the Ndokotti Court of First Instance’s correctional chamber renders its decision on the false statements contained in Oakala Ebode’s summons to the Mfoundi High Court. In its conclusions, the MRC, for its part, asks the court to declare itself incompetent to hear the case.
To justify its request, the party invokes the existence of an arbitration agreement in its statutes and internal regulations. This agreement binds Okala Ebode to the MRC National Mediation Committee, considered an arbitral tribunal that rendered the decision excluding him from the political party. For the party, the award is not subject to appeal and obliges the court to declare itself incompetent. Furthermore, the court’s incompetence stems from the fact that it is not the appellate jurisdiction of the seat of the arbitral tribunal that rendered the exclusion decision. Consequently, in light of national law and the OHADA Uniform Act relating to arbitration law, the MRC maintains that the High Court is not competent.
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However, the court has not yet ruled on its jurisdiction and continues to process the case. The panel of judges adjourned the hearing to May 28, 2026, to allow Okala Ebode’s counsel to present his replies.
