CAMEROON: SEPARATION OF POWERS


THE CONCEPT OF SEPARATION OF POWERS: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF THE CAMEROONIAN EXAMPLE


In a country where more than 45 per cent of Cameroonians still look to traditional methods of governance from its Kings, Fons, Emirs, Ardos, Ukpams, Nfors, and Ntunfam, the Ukpam of Bagundu, explains how the State is determined to make the concept of the separation of powers work despite the many challenges experienced since gaining independence and moving towards a democratic country.


HRH Chief Hon. Igelle Elias Terhemen, MP Chief Terhemen is the Ukpam, traditional healer, of Bagundu.


Introduction The majestic Fako today known as Mount Cameroon, released into the atmosphere a mixture of volcanic ash and lava as the Portuguese explorers watched with dismay from their boat. They concluded that it was the “chariot of the gods”. At the foot of the “chariot of the gods”, the Wouri River drains into the Atlantic Ocean pregnant with a rare species of prawns, from which this quiet equatorial and savanna landscape was to gain the baptismal title of the “Roi Dos Cameroes” meaning river of prawns. The Germans called it Kamerun, the French, Cameroun, and the British, Cameroon. Around the Wouri, the Kings of


present day Douala watched over their citizens as they went about their


16 | The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue Three - Cameroon


and north-west regions presided over religious rites to appease the gods in solemn services as their citizens fell on their knees to receive benediction or chastisement. The grassland gradually faded into


HRH Chief Hon. Igelle Elias Terhemen, MP


daily fishing and hunting expeditions, while the chiefs of the Bakweriland, on the foot of Fako danced to the rhythm of Malay. As the explorers moved north of the new found territory, the beautiful grassland manned by the Fons tribe of the West


the beautiful savannah of the Grand North, present north Cameroon. The territories had their quiet enjoyment perturbed in the 18th century by the arrival of the colonialists beginning with the Portuguese, followed by the Germans, the British and finally the French. The discussions were carried out through a series of treaties with the royal fathers, be they Kings, Chiefs, Fons, Emirs, Mekas, Ukpams or Tata to become part of the great western civilization with new systems of governance among which included the concept of separation of powers.


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