By Dibussi Tande
"The new Senate has no power to impeach the president, to approve or reject presidential appointees to the executive and judicial branch... and no power to conduct investigations of malfeasance in the executive branch. In short... the Cameroonian Senate has no power of restraint over the executive branch."
On February 27, 2013, some 17 years after the 1996 constitution established the Senate as the upper house of parliament, President Biya finally signed decree N° 2013/056 scheduling the first ever Senate elections in Cameroon for April 14, 2013. As with past elections, this date was chosen on a whim, or more precisely, at the discretion of the president who ignored persistent calls that municipal elections be organized prior to the senatorial elections since the mandate of municipal councilors expired in June 2012. As they say in Cameroon, the president alone understands the “intricacies and imperatives” of the country’s political and electoral calendar...
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Thanks for a very enlightened write-up, Tande Dibussi. As always I enjoyed reading it and indeed feel enriched by it.
I strongly recommend for fellow Cameroonians to read this piece, especially those already waging war in defence of Mr. Biya for supposedly creating 100 new jobs for Senators! It is clear that the only senator who will really have a job is the President of the Senate who has to wait till the presidency becomes vacant for him to exercise powers. That is a very long wait.
And yet, one would have expected that with the recent experience involving scandalous amounts of graft, embezzlement and abuse of office, this was the time to come up with an arm of government that would be expected to vet presidential appointments and keep some degree of sanity in the nation. The Albatross scandal, Cameroon Airlines bankruptcy, sleaze in SNH and SONARA, AES-SONEL ineptitude and tons of other matters had virtually held the nation hostage. These were preventable and ought to be so if an appropriate oversight entity had been in place.
Why should the president take the entire Opposition unawares by ambushing them to this sordid enterprise? Where is national interest in all of this?
Posted by: John Dinga | Tuesday, 05 March 2013 at 04:44 PM
corrupt to the fatty bone marrow, these chop broke pots cannot perform an honest deed if their lives depended on it.
Posted by: babajew | Tuesday, 05 March 2013 at 07:57 PM
It is a tragegy of sorts to watch intellectuals or those who purport to fall into this mold sink into unimaginable depths of debasement for pecuniary gains. The role of the intellectual in enlightening the rank and file and setting records straight for posterity is crucial. In doing so, the genuine intellectual strives to distinguish himself/herself from "okrika" or "kokobioko" intellectual.
Celebrated humanist, teacher, and scholar, Edward W. Said in his seminal book, REPRESENTATIONS OF THE INTELLECTUAL(Pantheon Books,1994)examines the ever-changing role of the intellectual today.In six stunning essays delivered on the BBC as the prestigious Reith Lectures,Said addresses the ways in which the intellectual can best serve society in the light of a heavily compromised media and of special interest groups who are protected at the cost of larger community concerns.Said suggests a recasting of the intellectual's vision to resist the lures of power, money, and specialization. He concludes that it is the role of the intellectual to be the voice of integrity and courage, able to speak out against those in power.
Posted by: Peter Vakunta, PhD | Thursday, 07 March 2013 at 06:17 PM