National Assembly adopts 2 more bills

The National Assembly has adopted two more bills in the ongoing 2nd Ordinary Session. The bill authorising the President of the Republic to ratify the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Cameroon and the Government of the Italian Republic on the reciprocal exemption from the obligation to holders of diplomatic or service passports to obtain short-term visas signed in Yaounde on March 17, 2016, and that Governing Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities in Cameroon were adopted during a plenary sitting chaired by the House Speaker, Cavaye Yeguié Djibril on June 24, 2016.

Before the adoption of bills, the House Chamber debated on the bills with the bill on visas exemption between Cameroon and Italy attracting more questions from the Members of Parliament to the Minister of External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella.

MPs raised issues such as the issuance of diplomatic passports to all members of the National Assembly, poor treatment of Cameroonians even those with diplomatic passports in some countries and dual nationality for Cameroonians abroad amongst others.

Minister Mbella Mbella explained that the issuance of diplomatic passports is regulated by the Vienna Treaty on Diplomacy which does not provide for diplomatic passports for MPs.

While stating that the issue of dual nationality is being examined, the Minister also announced that plans are underway for other agreements to be negotiated with some other countries like China and Germany on visa exemption for short-term stay.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey clarified MPs on the functioning of the Douala Stock Exchange and measures such as the increase in the number and capacity of the Custom Administration to live up to expectation within the framework of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.

It emerged that the bill on regulating undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities in Cameroon seeks to establish a legal framework in pursuant to Section 4(2) of Law No. 99/15 of 22 December 1999 to establish and organise a financial market.