CAMEROON: SEPARATION OF POWERS
democracies like the United States or the U.K. The concept in Cameroon is faced with a number of challenges, which could best be elaborated by tracing the constitutional development of this concept within the Cameroonian context.
Constitutional development As mentioned above, the federal system operated until 1972 when the first constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon was adopted. By this constitution the country was to be run by a president in Yaoundé, assisted by a National Assembly. In Buea, there was to be a Prime Minister, a House of Chiefs and a House of Representatives. President Ahidjo found it costly to
keep the two systems and decided to merge them. This led to the first National House of Assembly with only an advisory role. The new Assembly was to advise government on Legislature; their opinion however was subject to the final decision of the Head of State and government. The need to have the powers better defined saw the birth of another constitution on 18 January 1996 with greater emphasis on the doctrine of the separation of powers given the introduction of the Upper House of Parliament, the Senate.
A constitutional provision Any study of the 1996 constitution of Cameroon will point to a number of shortcomings when contrasted with the original principles proposed by the forefathers of the doctrine. The concept of the separation of powers within the 1996 constitution is captured in Articles II, III, IV and V of that constitution, which clearly distributes political power among the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative arms of government. By the provision of the constitution, a bicameral executive power is identified with a President of the Republic and a Prime Minister who is the head of government as contained in part II of constitution. In part III, a bicameral Parliament is
also highlighted: a National Assembly in charge of legislating and adopting
laws, and a Senate in charge of representing de-centralized and local councils with the power of having a second reading over laws studied and adopted by Parliament. In the same manner part IV provides for a judiciary with the role to assure the respect of laws voted by the Parliament and promulgated into law by the President of the Republic. The constitution allows for all the
three arms of government some political power to control a mechanism in order to control the activities of the other arms of the government and the constitutional power to either legislate, execute or interpret the laws of the nation. By this articulation, the government explains its actions before the Parliament, and the
“
...it could be concluded that the concept of the separation of powers has a bright prospect in Cameroon and with the support of more advanced democracies....”
Parliament can control government actions by written or oral questions. It can also carry out this operation through commissions of enquiry. Where such actions are found unsatisfactory, they can be sanctioned by censure measures or vote of no confidence or both in extreme cases. The 1996 constitution unfortunately still gives the executive a large sphere of powers that considerably interferes in the actions of both the legislative and judiciary. Article 5(2) of the constitution states that only the President of the Republic plays the role of a referee in the functioning state power. This places him at the epicentre of the smooth functioning and harmonious co-existence of state institutions. To illustrate this point further, article
30 of the constitution of 1996 states that “the texts adopted by the National Assembly are transmitted to the Senate, which may adopt it, make amendments or simply reject part or the totality of the text. However, in such circumstances the President of the republic has the locus standi to convene a meeting of a joint commission comprising equal representation of both houses to propose a common formulation of the provisions rejected by the Senate, the text prepared by the joint commission shall be submitted to both houses by the President of the Republic for approval”. Note that the emphasis here is on “for approval” and not for study and subsequent adoption. In the same manner the enforcement of a law may require a second reading of the law by the two houses.
Article 25 of the same constitution
authorizes the President to intervene in activities reserved strictly for the legislative and judiciary. Similarly, the powers of the judiciary may be put to question if its actual functioning relationship with the executive is considered a threat to national sovereignty. The President of the Republic chairs the higher judicial council and the minister of justice and keeper of the seals is secretary. The President of the Supreme Court stands as a Vice-President and member. It therefore implies that the
concept of separation of powers in Cameroon does not tie to its classic format. We find ourselves faced with the reality of political dynamism and intellectual potentials or provision. The evolution of contemporary concepts of the separation of power therefore articulates within the complex regime of politics that revolves around a presidential and/or parliamentary system. From a layman’s position, the
bicameral nature of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary arms of the Cameroon government seems both cumbersome and financially strenuous. This notwithstanding, the bicameral nature of these structures could have the positive impact of
increasing the number of those participating in decision making and implementation thus ensuring a greater level of efficiency. Considering that we are treating
an alien concept to the traditional Cameroonian society, it is important to count on the goodwill of the governing class to provide the concept as a clear road map, a functional format, from a coherent approach. Being a typical African Community, that more than 45 per cent of Cameroonians do not understand the concept of the separation of powers, given their firm belief in their Kings, Fons, Emirs, Ardos, Ukpams, Nfors, and Ntunfam. The approach adopted by the
1996 constitution is however a landmark step towards the right direction. Despite the challenges Cameroon faces with the application of the doctrine of the separation of powers, its historical experience with this concept points to the fact that the state is determined to make it workable and has continually indulged in efforts to overcome its challenges in this endeavour. Against this backdrop, it could be concluded that the concept of the separation of powers has a bright prospect in Cameroon and with the support of more advanced democracies and organizations such as the Commonwealth, the government of Cameroon will someday work within The Spirit of the Laws as first stipulated by Montesquieu.
References
• Ngoh, J.V. (1996) History of Cameroon since 1800. Limbe: Presprint • ED. National Printing Press (2008) “Consti- tution of the Republic of Cameroon” • Ogoloma, F. (2012) Separation of Powers in Nigeria: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Ethiopia, 63(26) • Appadori, A. (2003) The Substance of Politics. New Delhi: Oxford University Press •
Charturvedi, A.K. (2006) Dictionary of Politi- cal Science. New Delhi: Academic Publishers • Archives: Centre for Parliamentary Re- search: National Assembly of Cameroon, Glass House: Yaounde
Blackstone, E. (1765) Commentaries on the Laws of England. 1(149-269) •
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