Shouldn’t Biya leave Higher Judicial Council alone?

As the Head of State and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces, national leader of the ruling CPDM and chair of the higher judicial council which appoints, promotes and sanctions erring judges, Paul Biya is saddled with a lot of work. He however does it so well that he even recently got the treasured prize for peace, offered by the Pan African Lawyers’ Union which was presented by former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki.

The Guardian Post showers Mr. Biya with a warm encomium but submits he can rise to the highest pitch of statesmanship if he relinquishes the crushing load of heading the judicial council and safe the country from the mounting suits being filed abroad against his regime.

His seat at the judicial council has also raised criticism that there is no separation of power between the Judiciary and the executive which is not good for the growth of the country’s nascent democracy. Added to that, the litigants also argue that as head of the judicial council, anyone who sues the government at home cannot have a fair hearing. It would be like the defendant being an advocate and judge at the same time in a case against him and the decision in such a matter would be a foregone conclusion.

That was the thinking of the Southern Cameroon National Council, SCNC when it took the Yaounde regime to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, ACHPR also called the African court.

The government, whose eight-man defence delegation was piloted by the minister delegate at the ministry of external relations in charge of the Commonwealth, Dion Ngute argued that the case should be thrown out because the plaintiff had not exhausted the legal jurisdiction at home. But after being told that the head of state was also the boss at the higher judicial council, the commission sided with the plaintiffs.

That decision has opened the floodgates to other Cameroonians instituting cases against the government abroad. In such instances, heads and tails of the government would lose because of the excessive legal cost involved in foreign litigation and damaging publicity.

Among the latest Cameroonians taking the Biya regime to the African court include the sacked chairman of the Douala Ports Authority, retired Colonel Edouard Etonde Ekotto. Through his lawyer, Assina Engoute, the plaintiff is demanding reparation for abusive detention. He spent some six years at the New Bell prison in Douala on allegation of embezzlement but was set free on April 30 this year following an appeal he filed at the supreme court.

In admitting his case in which he is claiming hundreds of millions, the African court in a May 29 correspondence gave the Cameroon government 60 days to submit a defence to the suit. “I have the honour to let you know that during the 55th ordinary session held from April 28 to May 12 in Luanda, Angola, the Human and Peoples’ Rights Commission of the African Union (the commission) examined Communication 415/12 – M. Edouad Nathanad Etonde Ekotto Versus Cameroon declared in conformity with…the internal regulation of the commission, you are requested to send your observations on the substantive matter of this communication to reach the secretariat within 60 days from the date of this notification”, the commission ordered.

Michel Thiery Atangana who was given presidential parole after 17 years in jail for charges of embezzlement has also sued three top government officials abroad for abusive detention. And there is no guarantee that the stream of cases will not continue to flow to international courts based on precedence at the African court that the judiciary in Cameroon cannot be said to be free from the executive as long as the head of state is also the boss at the higher judicial council.

The late Albert Mukong of Prisoner without a Crime fame also sued Cameroon abroad and got a hundred million francs for compensation. In its ruling on the SCNC case, the commission ruled that the SCNC would not have had a fair decision at home. It recommended that the higher judicial council should be “reformed by ensuring that it is composed of personalities other than the president of the republic, the minister of justice and other members of the executive bench.”

That advice remains unheeded. Would the government say the current arrangement makes for a free judiciary in the country? Would the judiciary not be more credible, more free a power as stipulated in the constitution, if the council is headed by legal minds appointed from the civil society? Shouldn’t the Bar Association play a role to lobby in order to ensure the judiciary is free from such criticism?

Any policy that creates room for Cameroonians to take their cases against the government abroad is an indication that the established forms of political contention, such as petitioning office-holders and the judicial system are hollow and ineffective. It exposes the regime to international ridicule as its dirty garb is washed on the global stage.

At The Guardian Post we are convinced President Biya, doyen of the African political scene will get more prizes and enhance our democratization process if he throws away some of the loads he carries and concentrates on the crucial duties of head of state and commander of the armed forces. That will boost up his personality and the international image of the country being bashed from several angles including even at the ongoing FIFA World Cup tournament.