Anglophone Lawyers Boycott Bar Association General Assembly

Lawyers of the Common Law of Cameroon

The massive and embarrassing absence of a majority of lawyers of the English extraction from a General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association held last Friday in Douala has left many wondering if there isn’t a split in the making.

The SOURCE gathered that those absent from the Douala assembly were mostly lawyers from the Northwest and Southwest regions. They have lately been so vocal about creating their own bar association based on British Common Law.

Despite enormous efforts by the bar General Assembly President, Barrister Nico Halle, himself and Anglophone, to have a heavily-attended meeting, just a little over 400 lawyers showed up at the Castel hall in Bonapriso, Douala, out of the 1, 926 duly registered lawyers that were expected.

As a result, the meeting could not go ahead as scheduled because the required quorum was not met, following internal rules and regulations of the association.

There was no official justification for the poor attendance but Halle, the general assembly president confessed that he had done all to ensure a heavy attendance. Halle, together with some Anglophone lawyers who spoke to The SOURCE, were, however, quick to wave off allegations that there was a planned boycott by Anglophone lawyers.

The General Assembly, which has now been scheduled for Friday 29 April 2016, was an opportunity during which some issues affecting the Cameroon bar association and common law lawyers in particular, were to be discussed. 
Two items concerning common law lawyers were to be on the table – namely; the issue of the appointment of public notaries in the North West and South West regions as well as the common law system and the position of the bar association with regards to it.

Other crucial issues that were also programmed to be discussed last Friday included; a report on the activities of the bar president, an evaluation of the implementation of resolutions adopted at the Buea General Assembly, deliberation and adoption of the bar budget for 2016, discussions on rate of bar dues, emoluments paid to lawyers and the state of progress of the acquisition of land project under the mandates of erstwhile bar presidents, Charles Tchoungang and Sama Francis.

Meanwhile, in an earlier address presented by Barrister Nico Halle, which attracted intermittent applause from his peers, he called on lawyers to take up leadership positions, engage in useful debates and contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.

“The lawyer is the driving force of the socio-economic and cultural construction of our society…he has always been considered to be the voice of the voiceless…it’s time for them to wake us from the vexing slumber…” Nico Halle stated.

He also spoke elaborately on the role, training and obligation of the lawyer in society and the need for those of the legal profession to actively contribute to the ongoing fight against corruption in Cameroon.

“Corruption is unfortunately gaining grounds in the legal profession… the bar cannot be indifferent to the national strategies put in place to fight corruption… we ought to champion the fight against the monster called corruption…we must not relent on these efforts…and the bar account must not be managed with impunity…”
Halle also used the opportunity to urge his fellow colleagues to regularly pay their bar dues, which he said, are an indispensable resource for the implementation of the lofty projects undertaken by the association. 
He frowned at some members who still owe individual dues in excess of FCFA 2 million.

A representative of the Minister of Justice, the Attorney General of the Littoral region, also briefly addressed the lawyers before they observed a minute of silence in honour of innocent civilians as well as soldiers of Cameroon’s army who have been killed in the Boko Haram insurgency.