Paul Biya lampoons article 10 of Cameroon constitution, appoint prime minister/ ministers at the same time
2 min readWhat a legal mind will word as an abuse of power and the rule of in relation to democracy is the recent of appointment of the Prime ministerial post by the president of Cameroon.
The topical appointment of Dr. Dion Ngute Joseph on the 04/01/2019 as the prime minister of the Republic during the 2019 government reshuffle along other ministers has arisen a political missile with enough of bad dust yet to be settle. This is because the president (President Paul Biya) has refuse to uphold values of democracy as per article 10 of the 2008 Cameroon constitution which state as follows “the president of the Republic shall appoint the prime minister and, on the proposal of the latter, the other members of the government”. Given that the president of Cameroon appointed the prime ministerial post as usual along with other top government officials is tantamount to the abuse of the rule of law and democratic values.
As per article 10 of the mother law, the president is impliedly without any lacuna supposed to appoint the prime minister (head of government) into power early enough, and by so doing the prime minister will be able to observe the characters of potential government officials before appointment, and latter propose who to be appointed to the president.
The question is who most have proposed in place of the prime minister before the recent appointment of other top officials? How will the head of government (prime minister) work with his subordinate that he did not even have a say in their appointment? Will the prime minister be able to work as the head of government with the already appointed top officials? These questions seem rhetorical but are real and need answers at all cost.
With the total number of 13 prime ministers in Cameroon, it is worthy to note that since 1960, a woman has never been appointed as a prime minister in the Republic of Cameroon even for once. This alone is gender bias/gender violence against women talking less of other top government officials.
Wanting to build a society where the rule of law and democratic values are respected Societal Issues and Legality urges the government of Cameroon, stakeholders and the democratic society to uphold values of democracy in our various communities so that we can live in a free society.
The list of prime ministers in Cameroon since 1960
Ahmadou Ahidjo (1960 from January to May)
Charles Assale (1960 to 1965)
Vincent de Paul Ahanda (1965 June to November)
Simon Pierre Tchoungui (1965 to 1972)
Paul Biya (1975 to 1982)
Bello Bouba Maigari (1982 to 1983)
Luc Ayang (1983 TO 1984)
Sadou Hayatou 1991 to 1992
Simon Achidi Achu (1992 to 1996)
Peter Mafany Musonge (1996 to 2004)
Ephraim Inoni (2004 to 2009)
Philemon Yang (2009 to 2019)
Dion Ngute Joseph (2019 (incumbent)
Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
