Constitutional amendment sparks debate in Cameroon

Cameroon's President Paul Biya has been in power for 25 years, but he still has other
intentions - to change the law so that he can continue in office indefinitely after his mandate ends in 2011. Consequently, the president’s particular interest is on article 6.2 of the country’s constitution, which reads; “the president shall be elected for a seven year term renewable once”. But a good segment of the population is angrily against such intention by president Biya described as “a constitutional Coup d’etat”. Consequently, Bishops of the Catholic Church,
Cameroon’s largest religious body through their Episcopal conference have condemned in strong terms any attempt by the head of state to temper with the country’s constitution and has thus called on all Christians to stand against such manipulation.

Interestingly, the head of state and the prime minister are all Catholics. “Constitutional amendment is not a priority now”, reads the caption on an endorsement form designed by the justice and peace commission of the national Episcopal conference of Cameroon. “By my signature I hereby endorse the protest against any constitutional amendment in Cameroon as contained in the memo”, reads the form which is being signed by catholic Christians.
Furthermore In most churches on Sundays, Christians are being cautioned by priests through their sermon to stand as God’s children against the constitutional amendment which is now a topical issue in the country. Conscious of the fact that some Christians especially civil-servants are afraid of signing the form for the simplest reason of being victimized, they are being
told by the men of God to put all fears aside and stand firm in their believe.

The Catholic Church has been joined by the civil society as well. On this score over 40 civil society Organizations under the umbrella of Cameroon Alliance of Voluntary Organizations for Development (CAVOD) meet in Bamenda northwest province of Cameroon to say
no to any constitutional change in the country. CAVOD which is in a nation wide tour to press her claims is aimed with a mission statement as stated below;

• In a bid to contribute to the ongoing debate sparked by calls for the amendment of Cameroon’s Constitution;

• Noting that President Biya, in his end-of-year address on December 31, 2007, formally endorsed these calls with particular reference to Article 6(2) which he described as “undemocratic”,

We, members of the Civil Society network known as the Cameroon Alliance of Voluntary Organisations for Development (CAVOD), met in extraordinary session in Bamenda on Saturday January 12, 2007, and after an exhaustive examination of the subject, came out with the following preliminary statement:

1 That the present constitution does indeed warrant revisiting by reason of the following serious shortcomings among others:
a. It gives the head of State sweeping powers including the power to appoint members to elected bodies. For instance it empowers him to appoint 30% of the Senate, to sit with 70% elected members, thus undermining the regulatory power of this body over the functioning of the Executive;
b. It makes no provision for independent candidates for Presidential elections, or for the participation of the Civil Society in policy formulation and implementation, thus making public policy a monopoly of political parties;
c. It lends itself to manipulation, notably with regard to Article 66 which provides for the
declaration of assets, but whose text of application makes such declarations a private matter);
d. It leaves the appointment of members of government to the president’s unqualified discretion whereas elsewhere these appointments are made from amongst elected legislators;

2 The above shortcomings have, over the years, informed wide-ranging calls for the present
Constitution to be revisited, but the President has ignored them, only to spring into action now because a tiny fragment of his own party seeks the amendment of one article to favour his own ambition.

3 Those calls, it is to be noted, emanated from a small, negligible caucus that is demonstrably
unpopular even in its own base and, considering the low voter turnout at the last legislative elections, the nation runs the risk of seeing them validated with the support of less than 30% of the electorate.

4 Allowing this to happen would deny the vast majority of Cameroonians the right to participate in the making of a major decision with far-reaching consequences. It is thus at variance with the government’s avowed commitment to the letter and spirit of international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Fundamental Human Rights in its Article 21(3)

5 The present Constitution is the 1996 revision of the 1972 constitution, and even with the above flaws, basic logic demands its full implementation before another amendment is considered.

6 Even in the event of any such amendment, we deem a review of Article 6(2) unwarranted, especially as applied to the incumbent who has been in power for over a quarter century.

7 Just as the selective implementation of the present Constitution, notably the by-passing of the Constitutional Council, is tantamount to a constitutional Coup d’Etat, its selective amendment to suit the designs of the incumbent would amount to unacceptable tinkering with the fundamental law of the land.

8 The President, by allowing or being party to these violations of the institutions of State of which he is the sworn guarantor, can be deemed to have exposed himself to impeachment.

9 In the face of the current threats to the fundamental instrument of our existence as a State, it
behooves the people of Cameroon, in whose hands lay the sovereignty and destiny of the Nation, to make their voices heard through every lawful means.

10 We count on all friends in the international community to throw their full weight behind the
restoration of sovereignty to the Cameroonian masses.

Done at Bamenda, January 12, 2008