Article 11 of the Cameroon constitution provides that the government shall implement the policy of the nation as defined by the president of the Republic and shall be responsible to the national assembly under the conditions provided in article 34 (1) of the constitution of 1996. This article also gives power to the prime minister to supervise the activities of parliamentarians concerning financial issues, which makes the executive dominates the legislature over financial issues. Hence, this does not reflect the concept of the separation of power.

Though article 29(1) of the constitution of Cameroon 1996 is to the fact that both the private member bill and the government bills shall be table before the national assembly and either can be admitted after deliberation. However, it is saddening that since the 1960s when Cameroon got her independence, a private member bill has never been admitted but only bills from the executive members (ministers) are always admitted.

It is worthy to note that the president of the Republic and even the minister of justice can or have the right to stop the proceedings in court at any time. This was evident in the case of some Anglophone leaders in 2017 when the president of the Republic president Paul Biya and his government influence the arrest and detention and later ordered for the release of Barrister Agbor Nkongho and others. This means that the executive has an upper hand over the legislative and the judiciary, which is contrary to the concept of the separation of power, which is to the fact that each arm of government should be independent.

These are not the only areas where the law has undermined the Legislative and judiciary powers in Cameroon. The researcher will be establishing how the concept of the separation of power is maintained in Cameroon. Article 5 to 10 of the constitution of Cameroon establishes the executive arms of government in Cameroon, articles 14 to 24 establishes the legislative arm of government and in articles 34 to 42, the judiciary is given the independent powers to render justice.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Cameroon is a sovereign country in the Central African Sub Region. Cameroon is a victim of colonial rule from 1884 when the Germans officially took control of the territory. After the First World War, Cameroon was divided between Britain and France. However, after the Second World War 1945, the United Nations with the emergence of human rights, made it possible and laid a fertile ground for colonial masters to start preparing Cameroon for its subsequent independence. In 1960, the French part of the country got its independence and in 1961, the English part got its independence and reunite with French Cameroon under the two state-federal system of governance.

Cameroon was considered the lone bilingual country in Africa and second in the world. Political difficulties in Cameroon today is because of the failure of this political union in 1961, which is the two-state federation. In 1972, president Ahidjo terminated the federal system of government in favour of a unitary system.
As of now, Cameroon is a sovereign territory with a total population of more than twenty-five million and with a land surface of about 472, 710 km2. T Cameroon practices a decentralized system of government and is divided into ten regions with the capital city at Yaoundé and the English part having only two Regions
Cameroon adopted the concept of the separation of power from their colonial masters and it is practiced up to date. Thus since it is a foreign concept, the following paragraphs will be explaining the origin of the separation of power and its evolution.

Separation of power is not new but it is the principle in which many have written on it time immemorial. Since it all started and developed by a person, the researcher in this introductory and historical part of the essay will in subsequent paragraphs be discussing how it all started and how it evolved from the philosophical idea of Aristotle to the philosophical idea of Montesquieu

The idea of the separation of power was first brought into the limelight by Aristotle[1] in his book or his work “political” or “politics”. The “mixed government” which was the practice in Ancient Greece at that time inspired him, Aristotle. This was the starting point of the concept of the separation of power. Aristotle, a political philosopher in the 14 century BC did not hesitate to connect his lectures to deal with the “philosophy of human affairs”. Taking into consideration what was happening in Ancient Greece, he drew upon many forms of the constitution in the city of Greece. His ideas and lectures awaken a growth in democracy in which many philosophers followed to preach the separation of power, which was highly concentrated in the hands of few authorities.

In the Roman Republic, Polybius (Greek Historian of the Hellenistic Period) in his work “Histories Book 6”, further intensified the need for the separation of power and encourages the system of government that was the practice in Ancient Greece, that is the “mixed Government” amongst the Roman senate and the assemblies. Thus “mixed government” was a type of government in which power was divided between Democracy and Aristocracy. It is worthy to note that Aristotle and Polybius were against political absolutism or the concentration of power in the hands of one person.

Besides, after Aristotle’s idea toward the separation of power in what he referred to as a mixed government, John Calvin (1509-1664) also contributed to the development of the principle of the separation of power. The ideas of Calvin abide by the ideas of Aristotle and Polybius since he further fought for the right or the well-being of the ordinary people in 1620[2].

Because of this campaign against autocracy by Calvin and his followers, the first state which enjoys direct freedom and the separation of power was created in 1620 is the Plymouth Colony in North America. This state was founded by a group of English separatists or the pilgrim’s fathers in North America. In the Plymouth Colony, there was the enjoyment of self-rule where people could elect their leaders. The “freeman” or the people who could vote in the Plymouth Colony, elected the general court which functions as the legislature, and the judiciary which in turn elects the governor who serves as the executive or who provides the executive power[3]. A similar constitution was also drawn in Massachusetts Bay Colony founded in 1628.

John Locke also, in his philosophy (1632-1704) took into consideration the separation of power as per the English constitution and draws many advantages of dividing political power into the executive, legislative, and judiciary[4].

The word the separation of power was coined by a French philosopher Montesquieu in 1748, and it was from that time that the full application of the separation of power was discussed. Montesquieu in his political philosophy “Baron de Montesquieu” came up with the term the “distribution” of power or the distribution of political power between the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. The bases of his philosophy could be trace from the constitution of the Roman Republic and the British constitutional system. Montesquieu further emphasised that the judiciary power has to be real and not merely being in theory, he posited that amongst the three powers, the judiciary power was the most important.

Since there was a wind of change toward the principle of the separation of power within the philosophical idea of Montesquieu’s doctrine, he stood the grounds to the fact that three arms of government should be independent of others and that they are a balance of power between the three. Montesquieu argued his facts using the system of “checks and balance” it is worthy to note that Montesquieu’s philosophy greatly awakens the principle of the separation of power worldwide from 1748 until today. This is because he made people understand and feel the importance of the separation of political power in the government[5]

Taking into consideration the philosophical ideas of the English and the French philosophers about the separation of political power in the Ancient and medieval period, the idea of the separation of power was widely spread and was the practice in many states in Europe. Britain, France, and Germany rapidly spread this idea across the globe, since they were for a “mad rush” or competition to acquired colonies in the African continent. They succeeded in colonizing nearly the whole of Africa including Cameroon. Because of colonization, the political idea of Separation of power was also implemented in Africa and Cameroon in particular which will be our focus in this work.

The colonial masters administered Cameroon from the 1870s until the 1960s that is, under the control of the Germans, Britain, and France.

It is worthy to note that before the coming of colonial masters, the Cameroonian tribes were practicing the concept of the separation of power locally. The natives were governed by their “Fons”, Chiefs, Kings, or “Lamidos” according to their various traditional means. Most of these “Fandoms” especially those of grassroots practiced separation of power since their tribes were managed by their traditional rulers. The traditional rulers governed their tribes according to the demands of the various traditions and customs. Power and authority were divided according to their ranks depending on the customs of their tribes, for example, the No tribe[6]. However, the colonial masters introduce a more advanced way of practicing the separation of power in Cameroon since there was a democracy where people could vote for their leaders. Merging the various tribes into one country also counted in the effective implementation of the foreign principle of the separation of powers.

Separation of power in Cameroon is as per the constitution which establishes in article 5 to 10 the executive power, article 14 to 24 the legislative power, and article 37 to 42 the judiciary[7]  

Read or download the full work/dissertation through the following link: 

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/separation_of_powers/history

[2]Clifton 0lmstead 1960 history of Religion in the United States, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., PAGE 9 to 10

[3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ separation of powers and www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/ccflaw.html

[4] Otto Heinrich Von der Gablentz, Gewalt Gewaltenteillung in Evangeliches 502iallexikon col.420

[5] Schindler, Ronald, Montesquieu political writings, retrieved 19 November 2012 and Lioyd, Marshall Davies (22 September 1998), fathers and founding fathers: the separation of powers, retrieved 17 November 2012

[6] Nso tribe is an example of the tribes that practice the separation of power locally before the coming of the colonial masters and even till date in Cameroon. This is because in “Nso fondom”, there is the “fon” who ruled the Nso people like the president with the aid of his “Sheys” who occupied the positions as the ministers hence acting like the executive. There is also the “Ngwirong” cult which is there to make laws thus acting like the legislative. Finally, there is also the “Ngiri” cult which together with the fon and “Ngwirong” provide justice to the Nso people

[7] Law No 96-06 of 18 January 1996 to amend the constitution of 2 June 1972

About the author: Berinyuy Cajetan is a Human Rights activist. He is a holder of LL.B in Common Law from the University of Buea. He has served as a Democracy officer at the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa from 2018 to 2019 and as a communications officer from 2019 till date (2021). He is the founder of the Human Rights and Legal Research Centre. Contact: cajetantardze@gmail.com  or  cajetan@hrlrc.org or  Tel: +237652325886

Berinyuy Cajetan, Publisher

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.