Bar Council President ends MELA crises

Bar Council President, Barrister Francis Sama Asanga, and the President of the Bar General Assembly, Emmanuel Tang, have ended an infighting within the Meme Lawyers Association, MELA, by endorsing the newly elected Bureau of the association.

The Bureau, headed by Barrister Philip Awutah Atuba, has been given a two year mandate, despite resistance from some factions.

Sama and Tang endorsed the Atuba- led Bureau on October 11, during a fundraising and installation ceremony that took place at the Kumba City Council Banquet Hall.

The fundraising and installation ceremony brought together lawyers from all over the country.

Before the ceremony, the Bar President reportedly wrote a sealed endorsement letter to the Senior Divisional Officer for Meme, David Koulbout , confirming the results of the Elective General Assembly meeting that brought Barrister Atuba to the helm of MELA.

Speaking at the dual occasion, the Bar President urged other groupings of lawyers in the country to borrow a leaf from the MELA project of constructing a befitting Secretariat. Sama described the project as the first in the history of the Bar.

Revisiting the long awaited results of the oral part of the Bar examination, Sama expressed optimism that the number of successful candidates will be up to a record 1,000 new lawyers gaining admission into the Cameroon Bar.

He stated that candidates from Meme and Fako Divisions recorded outstanding performances in the orals, but called for caution until the results are sent to press for publication. He revealed that the results will be out within the week after a brief meeting with the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Laurent Esso.

Talking to the press, the President of the General Assembly of the Bar denied rumours that he and the Bar President were already on a campaign outing for another mandate at the helm of the Bar General Assembly and the Bar Association.

Tang said there is no reason for them to be campaigning now, given that, what they have done in the past speaks for them and not the meetings they are holding now. He added that there are facts which should justify the claim of another mandate when the opportunity and moment come.

MELA President, Philip Atuba told the Bar President and his delegation that their colleagues of Meme are ready to give them another mandate when the time comes. Atuba sewed for reconciliation, peace and a new era for the lawyers in Meme.

One time MELA President, Divine Mboke, said, constructing a permanent Secretariat for MELA justifies why elections are important. Mboke appreciated the effort but called on the newly installed Bureau to guard against financial infidelity.

Opposition Faction Presses On In the wake of the installation ceremony, a group of lawyers who opposed the election of Barrister Atuba reportedly organised another meeting on the premises of a private hotel in Kumba. The Post learnt that the opposition faction resolved to press for fresh elections to be conducted within MELA.

The anti -Atuba faction is said to have been sent into hiding by elements of the forces of law and order who repeatedly paraded the town to clamp down on any such gathering.

Meantime, FCFA 2.5million cash was raised for the MELA Secretariat project plus pledges.