Bad governance: Cameroon’s President gives himself leverage to manipulate electoral body

Provisions of a presidential decree signed on Tuesday which lays down some conditions for the functioning of the new elections management body suggest that free and fair elections will depend on Biya’s good will

By Clovis Atatah

Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), the elections management body to replace MINATD and NEO, is an improvement on the electoral process on paper, but in practice, it could be more of the same old arrangement where the government pulls the strings.
A presidential decree signed Tuesday 11 November, while maintaining the relatively progressive provisions of the ELECAM law of December 2006, has left loopholes that could give Paul Biya the leverage to manipulate the organ.
Paul Biya’s biggest trump card is the structuring of ELECAM, which separates it into a supervisory branch called the Electoral Board and an executive branch known as the General Directorate, which will be practically answerable to the president.
The Electoral Board comprises the 12 members of ELECAM who have a four-year term renewable by the president. Their role is akin to that of the board of directors of state corporations; they define policies but do not execute them. Headed by a chairperson, the board statutorily meets only four times a year, although they can convene extraordinary sessions.
By law, the members of ELECAM are designated by the president of the republic, after consultations with parties represented in the National Assembly “from the midst of independent personalities…, reputed for their stature, uprightness, intellectual honesty, patriotism, neutrality and impartiality”. They swear an oath before taking office.
On the other hand, the General Directorate, headed by a director general, is the executive organ of ELECAM. It is the director general, appointed by the president of the republic, who is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of ELECAM.
The law stipulates that the director general “shall be responsible for all election operations and referendums” under the supervision of the Electoral Board.
It is also the director-general who draws up and manages ELECAM’s budget. With this power, the Electoral Board members will likely be at his beck and call.
The law does not require the director general to be neutral or non-partisan and he does not have to take an oath of office. Such an arrangement gives the president the leverage to choose a pliant director general who will do his bidding.
Another trump card the president has is the requirement that all minutes of meetings of ELECAM and all its decisions, including internal matters, are sent forthwith to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation. The minister also has the power to request any information from ELECAM, which the outfit must furnish.
The government will be therefore permanently monitoring ELECAM and could use subtle means to pressurise the director general to act in its interest.
But the ELECAM law and Biya’s decree also have very progressive elements, not least because the discredited MINATD will no longer organise elections.
ELECAM will also have an autonomous budget enacted by the National Assembly. This should reduce government’s influence on the outfit.
Unlike in the past, ELECAM will have the powers to publish election results pending the official proclamation by the Constitutional Council.
But overall, the success of ELECAM will largely depend on the good will of President Biya.
ELECAM is expected to go operational by the end of this year.