Atanga Nji should be arrested for contempt - Lawyer

Barrister at Law and Director of Cameroon’s Lawyers for Human Rights, CLHR, Honoré Ngam, has stated that Paul Atanga Nji, who has twice refused to honour a summons of the Special Criminal Court, should be arrested for contempt of Court.

He made the statement in an exclusive interview he granted to The Post over the weekend.

Atanga Nji, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic, has scorned the Court summons twice on grounds that it is only the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, that can permit him to appear in Court.

According to the 2011 reports of the National Anti-Corruption Commission CONAC, and the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court, Atanga Nji is expected to answer charges for siphoning circa FCFA 300 million from the Cameroon Postal Services, CAMPOST.

Going by Barrister Honoré Ngam, such allegations are so strong that it is incumbent on Atanga Nji to appear in Court and defend himself. As a human rights lawyer, Ngam said the embezzlement of public funds is a grievous offence against the people of Cameroon.

“The refusal of Atanji Nji to honour a summons of the Special Criminal Court under the pretext that a Presidential fiat is required is clearly contempt of Court, in view of the fact that there is no legislation granting sitting Ministers immunity from prosecution for crimes,” the lawyer stated.

According to him, “We can recall the recent arrest and detention of a sitting Minister, Louis Bapes Bapes. We can also recall that the former Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Alphonse Siyam Siewe, was sacked and arrested immediately.” The lawyer said the Cameroon Penal Code expressly upholds the principle of equality of all before the law.

On this premise, Barrister Ngam said Atanga Nji had no right to scorn a Court summons.

“Even if such immunity exists, the proper venue for Minister Atanga to raise his objection should be in Court and note elsewhere. He should grace the Court with his presence and challenge the competence of the Court for trying him without a Presidential approval. This would mean that he will have to appear in Court and provide the legal basis for his claims.”

The man of law argued that the situation once more proves that in Cameroon, the independence of the judiciary depends on the will of the executive. Such a situation, he went on, is at variance with pronouncements made by President Paul Biya that the judiciary in Cameroon is independent.

He quoted the President as saying he did not want to interfere with the course of justice in the Titus Edoa and Thiery Atangana affair because of the concept of the separation of powers.

According to the lawyer, the Atanja Nji case has once more re-opened the debate on the independence of the judiciary in Cameroon. He observed that going by Atanga Nji’s view, the President has powers to determine whether he can be tried or not.

“In the face of Atanga Nji’s reluctance to honour the Court’s summons, the proper move for the Court is to issue a bench warrant for his arrest to secure his presence at his trial in absence. Alternatively, he could be tried in absentia. His arrest will send a signal that no one is above the law,” Ngam asserted.

Rumours Of Atanga Nji’s Arrest Meanwhile, false rumours of the Minister’s arrest swept through Yaounde in the evening of November 20, with the rage of a hurricane. The rumours started timidly with claims that Atanga Nji was being grilled at the Special Criminal Court. Allegations that the Minister had been arrested that same evening fouled the air as people made frantic phone calls to satisfy their curiosity.

“I hear Atanga has finally been picked up,” one informant told The Post. He however, could not answer any further questions as to when, where and how it happened and who did it. The rumours remained undying as allegations of a cabinet reshuffle.

Following the rumours, some curious reporters stormed the premises of the Special Criminal Court in desperate search of the scoop. But it turned out that it was rather the former Minister of Public Works, Bernard Messengue Avom, who was interrogated for his involvement in alleged embezzlement.