CAVOD Statement Against "selfish " Cameroon's Constitutional Amenement at a Press Conference on January 16 in Buea,Cameroon.The statement was presented to journalists of both the public and independent media by CAVOD National Coordinator,Victor Epie Ngome ,in the presence of many members of CAVOD.
Following is the statement:
· 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 behoves the people of Cameroon, in whose hands lie 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
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