Sama Francis elected President of Cameroon Bar Council

By Christopher Ambe

Veteran Lawyer,Sama Francis Asanga,was  yesterday Tuesday morning elected  as the new President of the Cameroon Bar  Council,  in replacement of Barrister Eta Besong  Junior, whose   two-year mandate was prolonged  until an  in- house conflict that led to the prolongation was resolved, in a meeting chaired by peace crusader Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle .

The election  was  generally described as free and fair.

The new Bar Council President, Sama Francis Asanga, in accepting his victory, promised to bring back peace and harmony into the lawyers association.

The General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association, which held in the Bamenda Congress hall (and lasted for four days), also saw the election of Lawyer Tang Emmanuel as President of the Association’s General Assembly. Of a total of 892 votes cast for the Presidency of the General Assembly ,Lawyer Tang Emmanuel won by securing 543 votes  while  his rival Barrister Bobga Harmony  got 269,according to Douala -based Lawyer Eyong Elvis Eyong,who attended the assembly.

 “Since none of the two contestants had the 2/3 majority required to be declared winner, we were about to go for a second round of vote (after about 12 hours of the first vote), when Barrister Bobga Harmony saved precious time by CONCEDING to his defeat,” Lawyer Eyong Elvis Eyong told The Recorder. “This was highly acclaimed”. Lawyer Nana Patytswi Vivian secured the post of Vice President of the General Assembly. 

After assuming office, Lawyer Tang Emmanuel, new President of the Association’s General Assembly supervised elections into the Bar Council executive body, which saw election of Barrister Sama Francis Asanga, as the President of the Cameroon Bar Council, known in French as the Batonnier. 

Also elected as members of the 15-person Bar Council are lawyers: Bonu Innocent, Ngoula Fots, Kamga Noutchogouin  Laurette,  Abdoul Bagui,   Ngnie kamga,   Aboubaka,   Njualem Charles, Eta Bessong,Memong Philippe,Nkemende, Tchakoute Patie,Fousse Dominique, Billigha joseph, and Nzoh Divine Mboke.

Presently there are  a little over 2000 lawyers in Cameroon who practice in French and or English.Cameroon is yet to have a law school to train private lawyers.

According to Barrister Eta-Besong,(now former Bar Council President),in an interview published by a local tabloid,The Star:

 " Because of the absence of a law school,Cameroon adopts the system of in-house training which we call pupillage.But those who go out Cameroon and go to inns of court,law schools in Nigeria,Sierra leone and come back here and get admitted in to the Bar.They are Cameroonians,they  like the law school but we have not yet had it here because it has not be created yet".