Deaths threaten quorum in the “Upper House”

Senator Stephen Yeriwa Jikong from Nwa, Donga-Mantung in the North West, died 15 November in Yaounde. He was 69. Jikong died on the same day another Senator, Bochong Francis Wainchom Nkwain, was buried.

I wish the rest of them long life, but the way and pace at which things are going, that house of advanced senior citizens may end up without a quorum (two-thirds of its members) if not less, by 2018 when its mandate runs out!

That may just befall the Senate if up to 34 of its 100 members died during the mandate. At this rate, that is not far-fetched, especially so as death becomes more likely by the month, if not by the day, as the third age people get older.

Jikong becomes the third Senator to pass on in seven months. Fon Lucas Njifua Fontem of Fontem, Lebialem in the South West opened the way in April, followed by Francis Nkwain in October. Nkwain was laid to rest on 15 November. He was 84.

Neither Njifua nor Jikong was particularly old though. Njifua was just over 50. Some members are even younger. Jikong a professor of English and Sociolinguistics and former lecturer at the University of Yaounde I, went on retirement in 2011. He simultaneously served as one of the Prime Minister’s technical advisers. He was also a member of CRTV’s board of directors and traditional ruler of Gwembe in Nwa.

Cameroon’s Senate, voted in April 2013 and inaugurated in June, that is barely one-and-a-half years ago, is composed for the most part of senior citizens – in the third age. Its oldest member, Nfon Victor Mukete is 96. Many of its members were brought back from many years on retirement.

Now the quick succession of deaths in the house is beginning to look like a trend, a reason to be concerned about the sustainability of the house.

Rules governing Cameroon’s Parliament (Senate and National Assembly) do not provide for by-elections to replace dead members. Seats left vacant by dead members remain vacant through the rest of the mandate.