Politics
The daily Mutations reports that under cover of the Social Democratic Front (Sdf) officials confessed that the party does not yet have the 80 million FCFA to organize the congress. This could explain the fact that this high mass was postponed again last Saturday during the meetings of the members of the National Executive Committee (NEC). In order to raise this money, the newspaper said that the contributions were broken down as follows, 25 million for the party, 36 million for parliamentarians, 13 million for local elected representatives and 6 million for the Regions and From candidates to primary.
The paper also points out that other party cadres indicate that the dismissal of the congress is not due to the ideas of cash tensions within the party. But rather because of the anglophone crisis that is struggling to end. They admit, however, that the question of the organization of the congress was debated at the assizes last Saturday that were held in the residence of the Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi. "We are still discussing it. And I remind you that we held more congresses than the RDPC. What is more important? Make sure that children go to school or choose their leaders, "says the Chairman.
It should be noted that the official reason that was given to justify the postponement of the SDF congress is the English-speaking problem. "The Northwest and South-West are not stable and we have to get everyone from the Regions," says Ni John Fru Ndi.
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"The time has therefore come for our nation to put into place a new paradigm for the management of our cultural diversity. That is the price we must pay to find the true unity we seek and through it the strength for which we clamor. The legal system of Cameroon is bi-jural constitutionally, politically socially, culturally and intellectually. Disregarding this fact is an assault on the very foundation on which our nation is built. While it is true that diversity might well create ambiguity complexity and even confusion, the danger of assimilation under the guise of harmonization now appears as a time bomb."
Forcing learned gentlemen of the law into the streets robed in their wigs and gowns is something no Government should wish for. Lawyers are the defenders of those without power, and the watchdogs of the rule of law. Citizens, who are witnesses to such a spectacle, will immediately feel fragile, and the existence of the rule of law in any country will immediately be questioned. As pictures of lawyers flooded the social media last November 08, 2016, and as I saw lawyers in the streets of Bamenda armed only with their ideas, their professional paraphernalia and the request for a dialogue, I wondered about the kind of denial that causes a few to think that because they shut their eyes nothing is happening; and that because they close their ears nothing is being said.
The fact that I can relate without any strain to the frustration of the Common Law practitioner convinces me to conclude that, the effects of cultural diversity in a country on the behavior of its citizens are complex and powerful. The time has therefore come for our nation to put into place a new paradigm for the management of our cultural diversity. That is the price we must pay to find the true unity we seek and through it the strength for which we clamor.
From the dawn of the Federation of Cameroon, the biggest challenge that hung over it like the “Damocles Sword”, was and has been the management of our diversity. Passionate Southern Cameroonians who had the vision of a United States of Africa, thought that maybe a United Cameroon was just the place to start. They felt the shackles that were constituted by a legacy of different colonial cultures could not be allowed to stand in the way of the reunification of peoples torn apart and dispersed by a War they did not start and had nothing to do with. A War which caused the colonizer to suddenly discover in Africans the virtue of valuable partners for the purposes of war but at the same time maintaining them as second class citizens for the purposes of colonization. The Federation that was born guaranteed the protection of diversity. It did so through its constitution. A Bilingual Nation, Federated States with their own Parliaments and Governments, a President and Vice President, one from either culture. Inherited laws, practices and customs maintained in either state of the federation and several other guaranties. So the Common Law lawyers had a Bar freely elected and independent, the civil law jurisdictions had no bar and were under the control of the Government whose prerogative it was to appoint lawyers.
Under the seduction of a 100% increase and even more in salaries West Cameroonians made the chant “going federal” their mantra. Yes, salaries were doubled even tripled, and some people moved to Yaounde. Arrears were paid on the new salaries and people carted away ton loads of money. “Federalization” was indeed a misnomer, for what in fact was the path to a centralization that spelt the death of the Federation. Still in good faith, the new form of the Union was given a chance. Dealing with the legal framework meant the organization of the Bar had to be revisited. So a new Law was passed in 1972 creating a Cameroon Bar totally controlled by the Government in which the lawyers were appointed by a presidential decree. The decade that followed was one in which the Bar fought for its independence and that is another story. The point of this article is not to make a pilgrimage into the past, but to reflect on the way forward. Some of those who have made the need to have a homogeneous society their objective, have failed to ensure that it does not become synonymous to assimilation. Any society with a minority that has a specific historical, geographical, and socio-political history must be managed in a manner to allay any fears of assimilation or discrimination and prejudice.
The movement of the Common Law Lawyers today must bring us to admit that diversity in our country has been mismanaged. This has produced, negative dynamics, ethnocentrism, stereotyping and cultural clashes. These negative dynamics over the years have combined with imbalanced structures to create an atmosphere of social injustice. While it is true that diversity might well create ambiguity complexity and even confusion, the danger of assimilation under the guise of harmonization now appears as a time bomb. In such an atmosphere polarization of social groups becomes easy and this ultimately will breed cynicism and resentment and even heighten friction and tension that could all lead to unfathomable consequences in terms of civil and political unrest.
It will be remiss of me to give the impression that there are no other diversities to be managed. Different groups have come up with memoranda about their regions, what is the response? These are the cries of people who feel that they have been left behind or in some cases left out totally. Many international reports have concluded that the economic predicament of the areas attacked in the Central African Region, indeed facilitated the penetration by the terrorists. Thus many regions do face discrimination in many subtle forms, which are slowly contributing to disappointment and anger. When conflict is the unfortunate outcome, the “majority” or the group controlling power will see and treat any incident as “isolated” when in fact the minority just count it as another event in the pattern of oppression and injustice that is embedded in the system.
I must hasten to add that there have been times when I have personally been witness to the clear demonstration of political will to protect diversity and ensure the respect of our constitution . When the very first OHADA laws were promulgated, the then Minister of Justice, Mr. Laurent Esso, delayed the application of the OHADA laws throughout the territory until they were translated and duly gazetted. He did this regardless of the coming into force date as per the Treaty. He insisted to the dismay of OHADA authorities that our nation is bilingual and bi-jural. Further the accommodation of customary law in our judicial system is clear evidence of the fact that diversity can be accommodated.
In the final analysis, we must avoid building a nation where dialogue is assimilated to weakness and the strength of nation demonstrated by the use of force against its own people. We must have a system that builds in horizontal and vertical communication in the management of our diversity. We must unlearn practices rooted in an old mind set, change the way we manage diversity in our nation, shift our culture, revamp our policies, redesign and create new structures and emphasize the fact the ultimate goal of any Government is a better life for it citizens. The Swiss, the Nigerians, the Belgians, the Canadians, the Tanzanians just to name a few have all learned this. It is urgent that a high level Dialogue be initiated. So heed to the cry of the Common Law Lawyers we must, otherwise in the words of Alan Paton in his revered book Cry the Beloved Country “I have one great fear in my heart, that one day, when they are turned to loving they will find that we are turned to hating”. Respecting diversity might well mean CRTV will have a channel or channels in English, Cameroon Tribune reverts to having an English Edition as it once did and the Supreme Court having Common Law Benches sitting as it once was.
The cultural assimilation of a people no matter how well disguised cannot be successful and can ultimately only lead to disastrous consequences for all the concerned. The legal system of Cameroon is bi-jural constitutionally, politically socially, culturally and intellectually. Disregarding this fact is an assault on the very foundation on which our nation is built.
*Akere Muna is a Cameroonian lawyer who is currently the Chairman of the International Anti-Corruption Conference Council. He previously served as the Vice-Chair of Transparency International, and he has presided over the Pan African Lawyers Union and the Cameroon Bar Association.
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It was an awkward situation at the MRC coordinators installation ceremony at Nyong and Nkelle Division as the sympathizers loyal to the Founder Maurice Kamto were held hostage by traditional dance groups, catering service and bike riders for nonpayment of bills. All these happened in the presence of the party chairman Pr. Maurice Kamto himself.
The captors expressed disappointments at MRC for not being able to pay for services demanded.
“Why should they tell us to come and dance when there is no money to pay us” she says. We were hired from a very far village to come and dance and we need to be paid in order to go back home” she adds.
Some angry motorcycle riders vowed to collect their dues before leaving the ceremonial premises.
“We have accompanied them and spent the whole day here. Now they are telling us that there is no money. He says. We must wait here and take our money from these people” he adds
Onlookers say it took the timely intervention of the forces of law and order for peace to regain its place at the Eseka ceremonial hall.
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(March 27, 2017 | Washington D.C.) Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the Anti-Torture Initiative at the Washington College of Law’s Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law, call for the immediate release of human rights defender Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla, who has been held in military detention since January 17, 2017. He was arrested alongside Dr. Fontem Aforteka’a Neba, a university lecturer, in Buea, the capital of the Southwest Region of Cameroon, for organizing peaceful protests calling for the rights of the Anglophone minority to be respected. Mr. Nkongho is charged with 8 counts, including treason, terrorism, incitement of civil unrest and breach of the constitution and set to be tried by a military tribunal. If convicted of these charges, he could face death penalty. On March 23, Mr. Nkongho’s trial was adjourned in a closed hearing to April 27, 2017, at which point his application for bail will be heard.
Mr. Nkongho is a barrister in Cameroon, where he leads the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC), the FAKO Lawyer's Association, and the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRD). He previously worked for the United Nations as a Human Rights Officer. His arrest is linked to his high profile work on behalf of the English-Speaking Minority and took place shortly the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, declared CACSC an illegal organization.
“The arbitrary detention of Mr. Nkongho and Dr. Fontem on account of their peaceful protests and advocacy for the human rights of English-speaking Cameroonians is in blatant violation of international human rights law,” Professor Juan E. Méndez, the academic director of the Anti-Torture Initiative, and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, has stated, further expressing “grave concern over allegations of excessive use of force and the use of torture against protesters and detainees, as well as over reported cases of arbitrary executions. I call on the Government to immediately release Mr. Nkongho and Dr. Fontem, to conduct an inquiry into the allegations of grave human rights abuses committed since October 2016, and to provide victims with adequate redress and rehabilitation,” the former Special Rapporteur concluded.
Cameroon has been facing a wave of protests and strikes since October 2016, as the English-speaking minority part of the country feels marginalized and discriminated against, especially in the judicial system and in education. As Mr. Nkongho himself puts it, “West Cameroonians’ education, culture, language and economic aspirations have been severely undermined. The people are thus very determined to secure their Anglo-Saxon heritage and aspirations as we enshrined in the constitution of 1961.”
Members of the civil society are being arbitrarily arrested, detained and harassed for speaking out against the current government’s policies. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Maina Kiai, denounced the excessive use of force by security forces during demonstrations in Buea and Bamenda, in November and December 2016 where at least four people were killed. The government then proceeded to issuing an internet ban on the English-speaking that of the country.
”The Cameroonian government is cracking down on civil society in total impunity and the international community needs to stop ignoring this” said Angelita Baeyens, Programs Director of RFK Partners for Human Rights. “Felix’s arbitrary arrest and trial before a military tribunal, in complete disregard with Cameroon’s international human rights obligations is illustrative of the repression that the English-speaking minority is experiencing.”
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the Anti-Torture Initiative call for the immediate release of Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla and other political prisoners, for the charges against them to be dropped, and for the Cameroonian government to respect its international human rights obligations.
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The Vice President of the newly-created National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism has promised to learn English so as to promote bilingualism.
Oumarou Djika Saidou admitted his weakness in English when he recently failed to express himself in the Queen’s language on CRTV Ngaoundere.
Saidou, who once worked at the Prime Minister’s office, was unable to make a sentence in English; he got stuck in the middle of his first sentence. Afterwards, he promised that he would rapidly learn English following his appointment as member of the commission to promote bilingualism.
Saidou, who has been on retirement in his native Ngaoundere, exposed his shortcomings when CRTV wanted to get his reaction shortly after the Presidential decree appointing members of the commission was published on March 15.
The former Regional Delegate of Education was appointed as Vice President of the Bilingualism and Multiculturalism Commission by President Biya on March 15.
The appointment of an English-deficient Saidou as Vice President of the commission for the promotion of bilingualism has raised the question as to the criteria that President Biya used to appoint members of the commission.
Prince Aristide Ngueukam, the publisher of the French language weekly, ‘Forum Libre’, has questioned how somebody who is not bilingual could be appointed as Vice President or even a member of a national commission for the promotion of bilingualism.
Cameroonpost
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Human rights lawyer and former President of Northwest Common Law Lawyers’ Association, was on Thursday, March 16 arrested and transferred to Yaounde. Barrister Robert Fon was summoned to the Northwest Governor’s office where he was arrested and whisked off to Yaounde. Close collaborators of Barrister Fon told The Post that no charges have been leveled against him yet. Meantime, most prominent Bamenda lawyers have fled town for fear of being arrested.
One of his colleagues posted the following statement on her Facebook wall after the arrest was made:
Sad to inform you that our Learned colleague, Barrister NSOH FON Robert of Bamenda was this morning arrested and transfered to Yaoundé for reasons yet to be made clear. Unconfirmed information holds that he went to the NW Gendarmerie Legion yesterday to report the fake message circulating about him and others and was requested to report back today. Upon arrival this morning, all seem to have been put in place to arrest and convey him to Yaounde. That's what exactly happened and he's presumably there right now. Join us in prayers that justice prevail over his predicament. HG KEMENDE.
Cameroonpost
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Biya Article Count: 73
# Paul Biya and his regime
Explore the political landscape of Cameroon under the rule of Paul Biya, the longest-serving president in Africa who has been in power since 1982. Our Paul Biya and his regime section examines the policies, actions, and controversies of his government, as well as the opposition movements, civil society groups, and international actors that challenge or support his leadership. You'll also find profiles, interviews, and opinions on the key figures and events that shape the political dynamics of Cameroon.
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.# Southern Cameroons, Ambazonia
Learn more about the history, culture, and politics of Ambazonia, the Anglophone regions of Cameroon that have been seeking self-determination and independence from the Francophone-dominated central government. Our Southern Cameroons section covers the ongoing conflict, the humanitarian crisis, the human rights violations, and the peace efforts in the region. You'll also find stories that highlight the rich and diverse heritage, traditions, and aspirations of the Southern Cameroonian people.
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