| CAMEROON - AFRICA IN MINIATURE - PEACE LOVING PEOPLE |
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CAMEROON:
Cameroonians are a very small minority of the African Immigrants here in the United States. Until this century, a majority of the Cameroonians
here in the USA were from the South Western Region of the country. Even Back home, this region is only 1/5 the total area of what makes up the
area of Africa.
Thus you have the only African country that is made up of a Predominantly French influenced Cameroonian section and a minority British
influenced Cameroonian section in the South Western Region.
It was therefor not surprising that many Cameroonians who first ventured to the United States were of the English influenced Breed. Most of them,
including myself came here on our own, without National scholarships as opposed to the French speaking Cameroonians. Recently, some arrests
and convictions of Cameroonians have embarrassed the Cameroonian community here and we all are taking about the effect of such behaviour
on us all who enjoy the benevolence of our host Country - The United States of America.
What do you think? Email me on the contact page. Your comments will be published verbatim if they contain no vulgarity or name calling.
Cameroonians are a very small minority of the African Immigrants here in the United States. Until this century, a majority of the Cameroonians
here in the USA were from the South Western Region of the country. Even Back home, this region is only 1/5 the total area of what makes up the
area of Africa.
Thus you have the only African country that is made up of a Predominantly French influenced Cameroonian section and a minority British
influenced Cameroonian section in the South Western Region.
It was therefor not surprising that many Cameroonians who first ventured to the United States were of the English influenced Breed. Most of them,
including myself came here on our own, without National scholarships as opposed to the French speaking Cameroonians. Recently, some arrests
and convictions of Cameroonians have embarrassed the Cameroonian community here and we all are taking about the effect of such behaviour
on us all who enjoy the benevolence of our host Country - The United States of America.
What do you think? Email me on the contact page. Your comments will be published verbatim if they contain no vulgarity or name calling.
« Achidi Achu, Assembly Questor Say Biya May Not Stand | Main | The Post Front Page-Friday,April 11, 2008 »
SDF Backs Biya's Presidential Immunity
By Kini Nsom
As the Constitutional Laws Committee of the National Assemblyvenezuela-1st-approval-of-new-oil-tax Apr-3-2008 continued to scrutinise the bill
on the amendment of the 1996 Constitution, the opposition SDF party has endorsed Article 53(3) of the draft law, which provides that the
President of the Republic will not be accountable for acts committed during the exercise of his functions.
The representative of the SDF Parliamentary Group in the committee, Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam, embraced the provision on presidential immunity
when he submitted amendments to the committee, Wednesday, April 9.
The provision reads as follows: "Acts committed by the president of the republic in the pursuance of articles 5, 8, 9 and 10 above shall be covered
by immunity and he shall not be accountable for them after the exercise of his functions."
Many observers hold that such a provision will crown President Paul Biya a full-fledged dictator. They fear that the immunity would give the
President sweeping powers to commit outrageous atrocities since he knows that he will not be held accountable after he leaves office.
But Mbah Ndam argued that such a provision would instead enable President Biya to willingly leave power without being afraid that he would be
prosecuted for the crimes he has committed while in office.
He said for the sake of Cameroonians and peace, SDF was backing the provision as a way of encouraging Biya to quit the stage fast. By doing so,
he said, the party would ensure that there is no witch-hunting when he leaves power.
He said most African dictators were fighting to eternalise their stay in power because of fear of being punished for the atrocities they commit while
in office. Quoting the case of South Africa, the MP said if Nelson Mandela had opted to revenge against the Apartheid regime, he would have
further plunged the country into chaos. He dismissed claims that such a constitutional provision would encourage impunity, noting it would work
well in a situation of checks and balances.
Amendments
During the committee meeting, Mbah Ndam submitted some amendments to the bill on behalf of the SDF Parliamentary Group. One of such
proposed amendments on Section 6 reads as follows: "The president of the republic shall be elected through direct, equal and secret universal
suffrage on a two round majority ballot.
The president shall be considered elected on the first round if a candidate obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast. If at the first round of
ballot no candidate obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast, a second round ballot shall be conducted from which shall be considered
elected as president the candidate who obtains a simple majority of the valid votes cast."
He proposed that only the first two candidates who obtained the highest number of the valid votes cast in the first round of ballot shall take part
in the second round conducted on the third Sunday following the date of proclamation of the results of the first round. Thus, the amendment
proposes a two-round presidential ballot that government rejects.
The MP calls for the cancellation of the provisions of sub-paragraph (c) of the draft law. He argues that there should be no circumstance in which
the organisation of the presidential election should require the amendment of the composition of the government.
The SDF amendment calls for the abrogation of the provision in the draft law that delimits the number of presidential mandates. The party
equally proposed the suppression of Section 67 (6). They put forward the argument that the new proposal in the bill contradicts in its entirety, the
provisions of Section 20 of the 1996 Constitution, which provides that: "the Senate shall represent the regional and local authorities."
Mbah Ndam said there should be no reason for attempting to put in place the Senate before the region. Hear him: "we have waited since 1996 to
date with neither the regions nor the Senate being put in place. We can as well wait for another considerable time to see the regions put in place
for the Electoral Collegehoward-dean-goofball Mar-31-2008 senators to be constituted.
Moreover, senators elected only by local councillors cannot purport to be representative of a region. This is an incongruity that does not augur well
having regard to the basic tenets of the 1996 constitution that lay emphasis on decentralisation."
It is unlikely that such amendment would be accepted by the crushing majority of the CPDM in parliament. But observers are surprised that the
SDF is now making amendments to a bill whose tabling they vehemently rejected.
Mbah Ndam told The Post that after the bill was tabled, it was incumbent on his party to fight some of its obnoxious provisions. He said if
government insists on maintaining the article that delimits the number of presidential mandates, the SDF would not vote the bill. He said the
party would vote the bill if its amendments are accepted.
There is talk that Biya would be crowned President for life when the constitutional amendment bill is finally adopted in parliament on April 11.
SDF Proposed Amendment
Bill to Amend and Supplement some Provisions of Law N° 96/ of 18 January 1996 to Amend The Constitution of 2 June 1972, (No819/PJL/AN)
AMENDMENT N° 02 tabled by Hon. Mbah-Ndam and the Members of the SDF Parliamentary Group.
AMENDMENT N° 02, SECTION 6
Suppress subsection 2 (new) and maintain subsection 2 (old)
PURPORT
We agree with the government that "the 1996 Constitution was designed and adopted in a quite particular post crises context". Indeed, it would
be recalled that in order to bring to an end the "ghost towns" and "ghost country", the government convened a sort of tri-partite forum that
brought together all the meaningful forces of the Cameroonian body politic and that it was at this forum that it was resolved to carry out a
constitutional revision and a committee was put in place to that effect.
This committee, however, ran into difficulty, when there was total rejection of the examination of the Federal option and this led to the All
Anglophone Conference which finally gave birth to a separatist movement that continues in existence to date. Peace was, however, re-established
in Cameroon when Parliament finally adopted section 6(2) as this was condoned even by those who were against the "unitarist" position since it
was generally assumed that whether the present regime under President Biya ruled well or badly, an opportunity would be given Cameroonians, at
the worst after 14 years, to try someone else.
Thus, section (2) constitutes in fact a solemn pact between the present Biya Regime and the Cameroonian people. To attempt to abrogate it
unilaterally at this late stage is to perpetrate a fraud on the Cameroonian people and put in jeopardy the peace and stability we have so far
enjoyed and which is a condition sine qua non for our economic development and progress. It also lends good ground and argument for
separatist thought.
On purely democratic principles, it is common knowledge of our short experience that the incumbent president in Cameroon and elsewhere in
Africa uses the governmental machinery for campaign and the manoeuvre of elections, thus rendering it impossible the full expression of the
sovereignty of the people.
If such a provision does not exist, election of the President of the Republic will never be a true expression of the sovereign will of the
Cameroonian people, which thus defeat the very fundamental tenet of democracy and the democratic alternation at the helm of the state. For
these two and many other reasons we reject the attempt to amend section 6(2).
AMENDMENT N° 03, SECTION 6
In subsection 4, delete entirely the provisions of sub-paragraph(c)
PURPORT
There should be no circumstance in which the organisation of the presidential election should require the amendment of the composition of the
government. The provisions of sub-paragraph (c) traverse entirely the provisions of sub-paragraphs (a) & (b) of this sub-section. It gives room
for an ambitious interim president to manipulate the electoral process in order to place himself or a crony of his, as presidential candidate;
whereas in fact this is the mischief which the provisions of sub-paragraphs (a) & (b) seek to remedy and avoid its occurrence.
AMENDMENT N° 04
ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL, SECTION 48
In subsection (1), replace the sentence: "It shall proclaim the results thereof" with "It shall give a final ruling on the results as proclaimed by
Elections Cameroon"
Insert a new paragraph which reads thus: ["Elections Cameroon" abbreviated "ELECAM" shall be in charge of the organisation, supervision and
control of free, reliable, fair and transparent elections and the conduct of referendums. It shall proclaim the results thereof. Its organisation,
functioning and composition shall be fixed by law.]
PURPORT
The fact that the government has brought an amendment relating to the Constitutional Council gives us locus standi to propose any amendment
thereof with the view to remedy the weaknesses that were, in the words of the explanatory statement, "very quickly shown" in the application of
the 1996 Constitution.
ELECAM, just like the defunct NEO anti-constitutional for neither section 48 nor any other constitutional provision provided for such an organ. All
powers regarding the regularity and conduct of elections were vested in the Constitutional Council.
In order to render ELECAM constitutional and separate the functions pertaining to the Electoral Commission from the juridical functions of the
Constitutional Council the above amendment becomes necessary.
AMENDMENT N° 05
ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL, SECTION 51
Suppress subsection 1(new) and maintain subsection 1(old)
PURPORT
In accordance with the provisions of subsection 2, the members of the Constitutional Council are appointed by the President of the Republic.
Firstly, the President of the Republic has the direct right to designate three, and indirectly to designate six through the majority he wills in the
National Assembly and the Senate and finally the two others through the Higher Judicial Council to which he is the Chairman.
Thus, the incumbent President, while he is in his sixth (6) year of office, would organise the appointment of members of the Constitutional
Council who will act in his favour in "ensuring the regularity of elections".
Secondly, there is no state institution that has a term of six years. The National Assembly and the Senate both have a term of five (5) years
each. Regional and Local Councils have a term of Five (5) years respectively. The President of the Republic has a term of seven (7) years. In
conclusion, the proposal to amend this subsection is backed by malice and bad faith. The reasons given in the explanatory statement are
fallacious.
Friday, 11 April 2008 at 06:59 AM in News | Permalink
SDF Backs Biya's Presidential Immunity
By Kini Nsom
As the Constitutional Laws Committee of the National Assemblyvenezuela-1st-approval-of-new-oil-tax Apr-3-2008 continued to scrutinise the bill
on the amendment of the 1996 Constitution, the opposition SDF party has endorsed Article 53(3) of the draft law, which provides that the
President of the Republic will not be accountable for acts committed during the exercise of his functions.
The representative of the SDF Parliamentary Group in the committee, Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam, embraced the provision on presidential immunity
when he submitted amendments to the committee, Wednesday, April 9.
The provision reads as follows: "Acts committed by the president of the republic in the pursuance of articles 5, 8, 9 and 10 above shall be covered
by immunity and he shall not be accountable for them after the exercise of his functions."
Many observers hold that such a provision will crown President Paul Biya a full-fledged dictator. They fear that the immunity would give the
President sweeping powers to commit outrageous atrocities since he knows that he will not be held accountable after he leaves office.
But Mbah Ndam argued that such a provision would instead enable President Biya to willingly leave power without being afraid that he would be
prosecuted for the crimes he has committed while in office.
He said for the sake of Cameroonians and peace, SDF was backing the provision as a way of encouraging Biya to quit the stage fast. By doing so,
he said, the party would ensure that there is no witch-hunting when he leaves power.
He said most African dictators were fighting to eternalise their stay in power because of fear of being punished for the atrocities they commit while
in office. Quoting the case of South Africa, the MP said if Nelson Mandela had opted to revenge against the Apartheid regime, he would have
further plunged the country into chaos. He dismissed claims that such a constitutional provision would encourage impunity, noting it would work
well in a situation of checks and balances.
Amendments
During the committee meeting, Mbah Ndam submitted some amendments to the bill on behalf of the SDF Parliamentary Group. One of such
proposed amendments on Section 6 reads as follows: "The president of the republic shall be elected through direct, equal and secret universal
suffrage on a two round majority ballot.
The president shall be considered elected on the first round if a candidate obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast. If at the first round of
ballot no candidate obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast, a second round ballot shall be conducted from which shall be considered
elected as president the candidate who obtains a simple majority of the valid votes cast."
He proposed that only the first two candidates who obtained the highest number of the valid votes cast in the first round of ballot shall take part
in the second round conducted on the third Sunday following the date of proclamation of the results of the first round. Thus, the amendment
proposes a two-round presidential ballot that government rejects.
The MP calls for the cancellation of the provisions of sub-paragraph (c) of the draft law. He argues that there should be no circumstance in which
the organisation of the presidential election should require the amendment of the composition of the government.
The SDF amendment calls for the abrogation of the provision in the draft law that delimits the number of presidential mandates. The party
equally proposed the suppression of Section 67 (6). They put forward the argument that the new proposal in the bill contradicts in its entirety, the
provisions of Section 20 of the 1996 Constitution, which provides that: "the Senate shall represent the regional and local authorities."
Mbah Ndam said there should be no reason for attempting to put in place the Senate before the region. Hear him: "we have waited since 1996 to
date with neither the regions nor the Senate being put in place. We can as well wait for another considerable time to see the regions put in place
for the Electoral Collegehoward-dean-goofball Mar-31-2008 senators to be constituted.
Moreover, senators elected only by local councillors cannot purport to be representative of a region. This is an incongruity that does not augur well
having regard to the basic tenets of the 1996 constitution that lay emphasis on decentralisation."
It is unlikely that such amendment would be accepted by the crushing majority of the CPDM in parliament. But observers are surprised that the
SDF is now making amendments to a bill whose tabling they vehemently rejected.
Mbah Ndam told The Post that after the bill was tabled, it was incumbent on his party to fight some of its obnoxious provisions. He said if
government insists on maintaining the article that delimits the number of presidential mandates, the SDF would not vote the bill. He said the
party would vote the bill if its amendments are accepted.
There is talk that Biya would be crowned President for life when the constitutional amendment bill is finally adopted in parliament on April 11.
SDF Proposed Amendment
Bill to Amend and Supplement some Provisions of Law N° 96/ of 18 January 1996 to Amend The Constitution of 2 June 1972, (No819/PJL/AN)
AMENDMENT N° 02 tabled by Hon. Mbah-Ndam and the Members of the SDF Parliamentary Group.
AMENDMENT N° 02, SECTION 6
Suppress subsection 2 (new) and maintain subsection 2 (old)
PURPORT
We agree with the government that "the 1996 Constitution was designed and adopted in a quite particular post crises context". Indeed, it would
be recalled that in order to bring to an end the "ghost towns" and "ghost country", the government convened a sort of tri-partite forum that
brought together all the meaningful forces of the Cameroonian body politic and that it was at this forum that it was resolved to carry out a
constitutional revision and a committee was put in place to that effect.
This committee, however, ran into difficulty, when there was total rejection of the examination of the Federal option and this led to the All
Anglophone Conference which finally gave birth to a separatist movement that continues in existence to date. Peace was, however, re-established
in Cameroon when Parliament finally adopted section 6(2) as this was condoned even by those who were against the "unitarist" position since it
was generally assumed that whether the present regime under President Biya ruled well or badly, an opportunity would be given Cameroonians, at
the worst after 14 years, to try someone else.
Thus, section (2) constitutes in fact a solemn pact between the present Biya Regime and the Cameroonian people. To attempt to abrogate it
unilaterally at this late stage is to perpetrate a fraud on the Cameroonian people and put in jeopardy the peace and stability we have so far
enjoyed and which is a condition sine qua non for our economic development and progress. It also lends good ground and argument for
separatist thought.
On purely democratic principles, it is common knowledge of our short experience that the incumbent president in Cameroon and elsewhere in
Africa uses the governmental machinery for campaign and the manoeuvre of elections, thus rendering it impossible the full expression of the
sovereignty of the people.
If such a provision does not exist, election of the President of the Republic will never be a true expression of the sovereign will of the
Cameroonian people, which thus defeat the very fundamental tenet of democracy and the democratic alternation at the helm of the state. For
these two and many other reasons we reject the attempt to amend section 6(2).
AMENDMENT N° 03, SECTION 6
In subsection 4, delete entirely the provisions of sub-paragraph(c)
PURPORT
There should be no circumstance in which the organisation of the presidential election should require the amendment of the composition of the
government. The provisions of sub-paragraph (c) traverse entirely the provisions of sub-paragraphs (a) & (b) of this sub-section. It gives room
for an ambitious interim president to manipulate the electoral process in order to place himself or a crony of his, as presidential candidate;
whereas in fact this is the mischief which the provisions of sub-paragraphs (a) & (b) seek to remedy and avoid its occurrence.
AMENDMENT N° 04
ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL, SECTION 48
In subsection (1), replace the sentence: "It shall proclaim the results thereof" with "It shall give a final ruling on the results as proclaimed by
Elections Cameroon"
Insert a new paragraph which reads thus: ["Elections Cameroon" abbreviated "ELECAM" shall be in charge of the organisation, supervision and
control of free, reliable, fair and transparent elections and the conduct of referendums. It shall proclaim the results thereof. Its organisation,
functioning and composition shall be fixed by law.]
PURPORT
The fact that the government has brought an amendment relating to the Constitutional Council gives us locus standi to propose any amendment
thereof with the view to remedy the weaknesses that were, in the words of the explanatory statement, "very quickly shown" in the application of
the 1996 Constitution.
ELECAM, just like the defunct NEO anti-constitutional for neither section 48 nor any other constitutional provision provided for such an organ. All
powers regarding the regularity and conduct of elections were vested in the Constitutional Council.
In order to render ELECAM constitutional and separate the functions pertaining to the Electoral Commission from the juridical functions of the
Constitutional Council the above amendment becomes necessary.
AMENDMENT N° 05
ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL, SECTION 51
Suppress subsection 1(new) and maintain subsection 1(old)
PURPORT
In accordance with the provisions of subsection 2, the members of the Constitutional Council are appointed by the President of the Republic.
Firstly, the President of the Republic has the direct right to designate three, and indirectly to designate six through the majority he wills in the
National Assembly and the Senate and finally the two others through the Higher Judicial Council to which he is the Chairman.
Thus, the incumbent President, while he is in his sixth (6) year of office, would organise the appointment of members of the Constitutional
Council who will act in his favour in "ensuring the regularity of elections".
Secondly, there is no state institution that has a term of six years. The National Assembly and the Senate both have a term of five (5) years
each. Regional and Local Councils have a term of Five (5) years respectively. The President of the Republic has a term of seven (7) years. In
conclusion, the proposal to amend this subsection is backed by malice and bad faith. The reasons given in the explanatory statement are
fallacious.
Friday, 11 April 2008 at 06:59 AM in News | Permalink
<a href="http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=10095&CID=177232"><img src="http://www.mydeo.com/videothumbnails/177232.jpg" alt="Makia EPIE - to Kumba at Mambanda 08-18-2006" width="80" height="60" border="0"></a> <a href="http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=10095&CID=177232">Makia EPIE - to Kumba at Mambanda 08-18-2006</a>