By Edith Wirdze
The President of the National 
Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Dr. Chemuta Divine Banda, has said the ban on all public demonstrations is not proper.
He made this assertion while presiding at the fifth ordinary session of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, NCHRF, on April 2, at the Yaounde Conference Centre. He explained that violent demonstrations are counter-productive in efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights.
Since every protest demonstration may turn violent, he said, if it is not properly planned and managed, public authorities may think it is proper to outrightly ban all public demonstrations. It is in this regard that he made an appeal for the education of all parties concerned with public demonstrations on how to plan, manage or contain them in a way as to ensure the security of persons and property.
He stressed that since inertia and impunity are the main causes of protest demonstrations, it is vital to encourage dialogue, good governance and the adoption of satisfactory solutions to emerging problems in given circumstances in order to contain violent demonstrations. He was speaking in relation to the recent ban on public demonstrations in the Littoral Province.
With regards to constitutional amendments, he said that they are normal
occurrences. Concerning the question of term limitation, he said that
limited or open terms for Heads of States and Governments are two
options in the same democratic game whose arguments for or against,
abound and are equally compelling because none of these two options is
intrinsically bad or good.
Thus, in the final analysis, it is the right of the people to freely choose the option they want.Concerning fuel prices, he cautioned that fuel prices significantly have impact on the prices of several other commodities and upon the socio-economic situation of any given country.
Because of this, adequate attention ought to be given at all times to the choice of a policy for fuel prices as this policy impacts on the level of employment and consequently on the tax base. He indicated that a properly managed oil policy can play a catalytic role for the improvement of the economy.
He said however that although this improvement cannot come overnight, actors must be resolutely bent on working towards it within a reasonable timeframe.The President also briefed on certain issues that the commission has worked on such as the refugee issue in Kousseri which is a consequence of the Chadian crisis, making sure that the Penal Code was duly applied in the cases of some detainees at the Kondengui prison, its contribution to the setting up of ELECAM as well as improving cooperation with its development partners.
UCHRF is a national institution for the consultation, observation, evaluation, dialogue and concertation for the promotion and protection of human rights. Recently, it has been involved on several happenings in the domain of human rights such as the debate on constitutional amendment,
the ban on public demonstrations in the Littoral Province, the Chadian crisis which affected the human rights situation in Kousseri, the rise of fuel prices and that of several basic goods, the February 2008 crisis that rocked the country as well as recent measures taken to improve upon the standards of living of Cameroonians.
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