Democracy and Human Rights in Africa

Ateh-Afac Fossungu

Description

Since the mid-1980s, there has been much federalism talk in Cameroon where federation (said to have been created in Foumban in 1961) had supposedly been �overwhelmingly� rejected in 1972 by Cameroonians. �Confusioncracy� is the one good term that could conveniently explain it. Written with the trilogy of criticism, provocation, and construction in mind, this book aims at reconstructing a new and vigorous society in Cameroon that ensures respect for fundamental human rights and certain basic shared values. Much as the book centres on the Anglophone Problem; it is principally about human rights and their excessive violations � the direct result of the absence of separation of powers and constitutionalism. It largely condemns Cameroon�s government for incessantly singing democracy and rule of law at the same time as it is massivel

Informations

• Publié par: Freedom Publications
• Date de parution: 27 décembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789956790050
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS INAFRICA DEMOCR CY A D HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA

T HE P OLITICSOF C OLLECTIVE P ARTICIPATION AND G OVERNANCEIN C AMEROON

Peter AtehAfac Fossungu

Democracy and Human Rights in Africa: The Politics of Collective Participation and Governance in Cameroon Peter Ateh-Afac Fossungu Langaa Research & Publishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookcollective.com ISBN: 9956-790-15-X ©Peter Ateh-Afac Fossungu 2013

DISCLAIMER All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.

Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………vii Chapter 1:Laughing At The Academia: The Federal Republic Of Cameroon (Frc) And The Definition Of Federalism………………. 1 On the Importance of Federalism and the Issues…………………….. 1 The Role of the Intelligentsia…………………………………………. 2 ‘Intellectual In Politics’: What Does It Mean?....................................... 6 The FRC and the Definition of Federalism……………………………. 9 Defining Federalism: Surprising the Experts…………………………. 10 Power-Sharing in the FRC?..................................................................... 15 Secession, Coup d’État and/or Annexation in 1972/84?....................... 18 Amendments and the Solid Edifice Theory…………………………… 19 Was the FNA the Exclusive Legislator?................................................. 31 Traditional Federal Level Separation and Federal-State Domains………32 Intellectuals in Politics: Confused or Confusing?................................... 37 Open-Ended Emergency Powers in the PFR’s Hands………………… 44 Closing Remarks………………………………………………………. 48 Chapter 2: Confusion, Manipulation, And The Invisible Hand Of Federalism In Africa: Lessons In Patriotism, Sincerity, And Brotherhood In Cameroon…………………………………………….51 On the Invisible Hand of Federalism…………………………………. 51 Federating for Security?.......................................................................... 52 The Hope for Economic Advantage and Geography…………………. 54 The Yes-No Patriotic and Sincere Appeal to Nationalists……….…….. 55 Appealing for What and Why?................................................................ 56 Bafoussam and the Proof of Patriotism and Sincerity………………… 59 A Truth-Telling Offence in Cameroon?................................................. 63 The Independence from Reunification Postulates……………………. 66 Integrative Federalism in Foumban?....................................................... 67 Devolutionary Federalism in the SDF Four-State Federation?.............. 69 On The Contents of the SDF Federation Project……………………... 70 On the Federation’s Flawed Assumptions and Invisible Hands………. 73 The Size-and-Numbers Independence Thesis…………………………. 82 iii

The Kamerun Idea and the West Cameroon Package for Union………. 83 Why Two Sets of UN Plebiscites, & No Return of Ceded Territories?.... 85 Negating or Passing Federalism Constituting Tests?............................... 92 Double Nationalities in the West Cameroon Proposals………………... 94 Translating in the Martian-Venusian Dialogue………………………… 97 Historic Ties?......................................................................................... 98 Key-Holding Role and Mission of the Translator………………………100 Chapter 3: The Politics Of Federalism, Self-Determination, And Secession: Is The Cameroon Administration Above International Human Rights Law Too?........................................................................ 107 Is Federalism Foreign to Africa?............................................................ 108 The Democratic Nature of Africa’s Pre-Colonial System……………… 112 The Bangwa As Federalists……………………………………………. 119 Constitutionalism Lessons from Germany and Canada……………….. 125 Is Federalism the Synonym of Secession?............................................... 133 The Yes-No Stance on Federalism…………………………………….. 133 On the Meaning of ‘Whoever’ and ‘Whatever Manner’……………….. 136 Rule of Law and Democratic Society in Cameroon?............................... 139 Self-Determination and International Human Rights Law……………. 153 The Secession Debates Reviewed…………………………………….. 154 The Most Appropriate Path for Southern Cameroonsians…………….. 157 Concluding Observation………………………………………………. 162 Chapter 4: Africa, Bicephalism, And Bicameralism: The Impossible Is Really Not Possible In Cameroon?....................................................... 167 Overview of Separation of Powers (Bicephalism and Bicameralism)….. 167 The Prime Ministry, Politics of the Inside, and the Dialectics of Parliamentary Representation and Legislation-Making………………… 170 Cameroon’s Regionalization and the Dialectics of Representation and Legislation-making……………………………………………………. 171 Sessions and Legislation-Making Role of the National Assembly…….. 174 Who Do National Assemblers RepresentProprement Dire?...................... 179 The Prime Minister Post and the Quebec Analogy……………………. 181 Bicephalism and Parliamentary Membership and Other Incompatibilities………………………………………………………. 186 The Prime Minister As Exposing the Rules of Incompatibilities……… 189

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Constitutional Council Case Making Case for Bicephalism?................... 191 Bicameralism and the Advanced Government Algebra………………... 198 The Senate in Cameroon History……………………………………… 199 IUS Equals DUS, Since Appointment Plus Elections Equal Appointment: You Think That Is Impossible Mathematics?......................................... 206 Closing Remarks………………………………………………………. 219 Conclusion……………………………………………………………..221 References……………………………………………………………...229

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Introduction One important fundamental preoccupation of constitutionalism is the avoidance of governmental tyranny through the abuse of power by rulers pursuing their own interests at the expense of the life, liberty, and property of the governed. A major challenge faced by constitutional engineers has been to design a system of governance that maximizes the protection of individual members of society while minimizing the opportunities for governments to harm them [Fombad, 2005: 301]. Since the mid-80s, there has been much federalism talk in Cameroon where federation (said to have been created in Foumban in 1961) had supposedly been ‘overwhelmingly’ rejected in 1972 by Cameroonians. It is cleanly hard to see how all of this could be conveniently explained except by the words, ‘confusion’ and ‘manipulation’, enormously greased with corruption and selfishness – confusioncracy, for short; a system of rule that has since equated federalism with secession. Is federalism in fact a vehicle for self-determination or one for secession? This main question, and many more democracy issues that are incidental to it, can be best answered through adequately understanding the politics of secession in Cameroon. This politics finds its roots in the concept of federalism through which the country’s English-speaking minority thinks it can feel protected in the larger state. Thus, Konings (1999: 290) has posited that “the political agenda in Cameroon has become increasingly dominated by what is known as the ‘Anglophone problem’“; with Eko (2003: 80) regarding it as “an important issue that must be dealt with.” This problem, to Eko (2003: 81), is an assemblage of political, cultural, economic and social grievances expressed by the English-speaking minority in the predominantly French-speaking Republic of Cameroon (formerly called the United Republic of Cameroon); an issue which Anyefru (2010: 85) thinks “has attracted significant [international] attention since the mid-1980s.” Cameroon and Human Rights Much as this book centres on it, it is not only about the Anglophone Problem. It is principally about human rights and their excessive violations resulting directly from what Konings (1999: 289) decries as “this approach vii

[that] fostered political monolithism and the entrenchment of presidentialism, at the expense of constitutionalism.” The Anglophone problem then cannot but be central to the book because it “touches on the distribution of political and economic power, the institutional structures of the society, the educational system, and the relationship between the government and the governed” (Eko, 2003: 81). This book largely condemns the Cameroon government for incessantly singing democracy and rule of law at the same time as it is massively torturing and wantonly killing citizens that dare to question the confusion. I think only the ignorant would now think that the international community is not unaware of the Anglophone Problem. As Anyefru (2010: 85) clearly makes known, “The aim of the [numerous Anglophone] petitions against the new state [of Cameroon] has been to draw the attention of the UN and the international community to the injustices inflicted upon minority English-speaking Cameroonians by the ruling government. The Anglophone elites believe that by making their plight known to the international community, the latter might intervene to restore the statehood of Southern Cameroon.” The international community is thus quite aware of the Anglophone problem but it seems that it is unaware of the degree of the unsettling human rights atrocities in this country most probably because of the confusioncracy that has been deeply and widely embedded in and around human rights issues in Cameroon. For example, Cameroon is signatory to all the international conventions on human rights; but what the international audience may not quite know, as far as Cameroon is concerned, is that signing and ratifying those conventions and treaties is one thing and actually abiding by them is another; an issue further complicated when its inhuman and degrading treatment of citizens would be wrapped with the cloak of national unity. Furthermore, the United Nations (that most Africans continue to look up to) usually is incapacitated by the ‘interests-politics’ of the gear-lever states of the UN; interests that would often hide behind the ‘sovereignty of states’ (non-interference) principle; only to quickly invoke “humanitarian intervention” when that is solely in the invokers’ own interests, as many incidents in Africa can clearly show; leading many critics to wonder when Africans would then ever grow up and stop waiting to be spoon-fed by the others – especially when they count so much on the UN that Cassese (1986: 396) says “now increasingly indulges in the highly questionable practice of begetting ever greater number of resolutions, as if to

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conjure up problems and provide for their solution on paper served to settle them in real life.” I strongly share the position that a state like Cameroon must be seen to ensure that its laws and other practices accord with its international commitments in order not to lengthen the documented list of its human rights violations to an extent “unlike anything the world has ever known, with manifestations of genocide, torture, ‘disappearances’ and slavery for 1 which historians must search long and hard to find equivalents.” The Cameroon regime is plainly guilty of gross violations against humanity, contrary to its commitments under international human rights law and practice as this book largely demonstrates. In a way, it calls on the international community to see to it that this state’s crooked regime, party to all the known treaties and conventions on human rights, be made to respect its international commitments and stop the massive brutalization and killing of its citizens. Said international community cannot be knowledgeable of the real situation until one has conveniently capped or excluded the great amount of confusioncracy in the federalism and other collective participation (democracy) theses or arguments from both sides – the English-speaking minority and the Cameroon administration. A lot of West Cameroonians have been quick to pin the human rights problems in Cameroon solely on the Francophone-dominated government. This book however strives to apportion the blame accordingly, showing how the English-speaking minority is, in large measure, enormously contributing to its own oppression and propping up the Ahidjo-Biya dictatorship that is oppressing Cameroonians generally, not just the linguistic minority. Gorji-Dinka (1996) narrates that many young English-speaking Cameroonians do not understand and wish to know “How do we come to be ruled directly from Yaounde?” The youths’ query is seeking to comprehend why there is no separation of powers in Cameroon when the country is incessantly singing democracy and rule of law. The youths’ probing must have to be squarely addressed; the more so as Cameroon’s President Biya 1  William A. Schabas,International Human Rights Law and the Canadian Charter: A Manual for the Practitioner(Toronto: Carswell, 1991) at v. See also Daniel D. NserekoNtanda, “Victims of Abuse of Power, with Special Reference to Africa” 28:1University of British Columbia Law Review (1994), 171 at 188-191; H.M. Kindredet al,International Law chiefly as Interpreted and Applied in Canada(Toronto: Edmond Montgomery Publications Ltd., 1987) at 663; and Susan Marks, “Civil Liberties at the Margin: The U.K. Derogation and the European Court of Human Rights” 15Oxford Journal of Legal Studies(1995), 65 at 81-82. ix