TRUTH THAT MUST BE TOLD

By Asong Ndifor

What Commonwealth MPs must know about Biya 

By the time the 60^th general assembly of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, CPA, ends, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya will add another envious feather to his crowded leadership crown. He will become the deputy patron of the CPA with The Queen of England as the boss.

For the visiting MPs who do not know the Cameroonian head of state very well, he is also the national chairman of the ruling CPDM party and president of the higher judicial council of the third estate of the realm.

What I like about the Commonwealth is its “diversity” and even definition of English words which can be defined to suit the diverse character of the Gentlemen’s Club, and ladies’ too.

That is why the visiting “deputies”, the Cameroonian word for parliamentarians, should not shiver when they are told that their next deputy patron heads a judicial council that employs, promotes and sanctions magistrates. It is the Cameroonian “specificity” of the separation of power.

But the Commonwealth Charter has its own universal meaning which under the heading ‘Separation of Powers’ says Commonwealth countries should “recognise the importance of maintaining the integrity of the roles of the legislature, executive and judiciary. These are the guarantors in their respective spheres of the rule of law, the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights and adherence to good governance”.

The challenge is whether Cameroon will rebrand its specificity to match that of the Commonwealth as the other 52 members will watch and scrutinse their deputy patron’s activities henceforth?

As for good governance, it’s not a challenge. The patron so detests bad governance to an extent that he decreed a “war” against corruption. The main top prisoners of war include the immediate past prime minister, head of government, Chief Ephraim Inoni and two former secretaries general at the presidency, Atangana Mebara and Marafa Hamidou Yaya. The war was imposed after Cameroon won two consecutive titles of the most corrupt country in the world.

Breaking records also has its specificity.  The next CPA deputy patron holds the record of longest serving head of state in the Commonwealth, 33 years and counting. The speaker of the Cameroon national assembly is also a record holder; being the longest serving speaker in the Commonwealth with 32 years and still speaking, though not in English, the lone tongue of the association.

The leading opposition party in a parliament of 180 has just 18 members and they have their specificity in opposing, just scurrying out of the House when they disagree on a bill but there is absolute “consensus”, the Cameroon word for it is acclamation, when it comes to debates on their financial remuneration. That’s the Cameroonian way of diversity in unity.

I hear the whole idea of the CPA is reciprocity through the exchange of ideas, experience and insights. As the secretary general of the Commonwealth said at the 59^th assembly in South Africa: “Commonwealth conferences are all about: to strengthen networks, to share, to exchange, to be mutually supportive, and to benefit from doing so.”

I differ with the Cameroonian “specificity” in the separation of power and the independence of the legislature that dance to the soothing music of the party discipline.  

I do hope the majority of the CPA members will share my views in a transparent ballot and that the hosts and new patron will leave up to the challenges and values defined by the heads of state and governments of the Commonwealth which as state by the Commonwealth are: a participatory democracy characterised by free and fair elections and representative legislatures, an independent judiciary, a well-trained public service, a transparent and accountable public accounts system, machinery to protect human rights, the right to information, active participation of civil society, including women and youth, substantially increased and more effective financial resources and increased democracy at the global level, including enhanced participation and transparency in international institutions.

Shouldn’t commonwealth parliamentarian question the recalcitrant nations hiding behind “national specificity” to implement them for the interest of development, equity and peace in Commonwealth countries?

Postscript: Parliament of the country is the repository of the sovereign will of the people, and its successful functioning is a joint responsibility of both the government and the opposition. -Pratibha Patil.