Lawyers institute live debate for presidential candidates

Three prominent Fako-based lawyers; Barristers Davidson Fih, Felix NkonghoAgbor-Balla and Stephen Njilla, are presently fine tuning their debating skills for a live Presidential debate for election into the Fako Lawyers Association, FAKLA.

The out-going President of FAKLA, Barrister Stanislaus Ajong, told The Post recently that his administration has in consultation with the lawyers, scheduled elections for a new executive of the associationon April 11.

In a bid to ensure that the elections match contemporary democratic practices as obtains in advanced democracies, Ajong and and his executive have decided to let Fako Lawyers have a taste and experience of what should henceforth become a practice in Cameroon.

“This innovation to have a debate stems from the fact that many issues have been raised in the FAKLA Online Forum by the candidates in the presentation of their manifestos for the election.

We think that for the democratic spirit that has been instilled in the Association to go further, we should embrace advanced democratic reasoning and practice.

This calls for a Presidential debate, where the candidates shall have to sit face-to-face, answer questions from their colleagues and profile their projects for the association, so that history will record it. The winner can be called back in future, to account for whatever he said during the debate.”

When Ajong was elected on July 17, 2010, for his first mandate and the second from March 23, 2013, no Presidential debates were held. But he said the new innovation has been prompted simply by the drive to make sure that democracy thrivesin FAKLA.

“Whether this system will be replicated in the future by the Cameroon Bar Association, ELECAM or the Cameroon Government is not within my powers. But this drive was simply inspired by the urge to institute a more democratic way of conducting elections within FAKLA,” Ajong stated.

The venue for this planned Presidential debate will be made known in the days ahead, but the debate’s facilitation, The Post learnt, will be moderated by two of Cameroon’s journalism icons, Charlie Ndi Chia, Editor–in-Chief of The Post and Chief Nkemayang, Publisher of The Star Newspaper.

Barrister Ajong’s stewardship in FAKLA has been described by many as successful.

FAKLA in 2010 was marked by political misunderstandings. The then President, Barrister Francis Bache, was not willing to leave office, even though his mandate had long expired. With the aid of Barrister Peter Tumnde, the late Barrister Innocent Bonu and others, the Bache regime became history when a new FAKLA Constitution was drawn up, elections organised and Ajong emerged as President.

From July 17, 2010, to April 11, 2015, when Ajong is expected to hand over to his successor, the FAKLA President counts the achievements of his executive. “We set out with a project to make sure that FAKLA is truly made known to every citizen of Cameroon and beyond. I want to believe that FAKLA, today, with the help of the Fourth Estate, is known worldwide.”

Besides just making FAKLA known, Ajong commandeered his colleagues to the Buea prisons and other detention centres in Fako where free legal services were offered to some needy detainees who had been languishing behind bars without the means to secure the services of a lawyer.

“During my first term, we filed 42 cases in Court for habeas corpus; 22 of these were charged and 20 were set free, thanks to FAKLA,” Ajong said.

He said under him, FAKLA secured links with the African Commission of Human and People’s Rights which culminated in the hosting of one of the members of AU, Barrister AkereMuna.

FAKLA, he said, also set up a Prisoners’ Solidarity Fund, where money and material donations were contributed voluntarily by members and offered as assistance to detainees at the Buea Prisons.

A series of social events aimed at building a spirit of camaraderie among lawyers were organised, with football encounters pitting FAKLA members and lawyers from other Regions.

“For my second mandate, we succeeded to make FAKLA become more vibrant to the extent that today we have three candidates vying for the Presidency of FAKLA… This is the success story that I want to leave behind as President,” Ajong said.

With the above achievements, Ajong said the spirit of true democracy, which he has instilled in FAKLA, permits him to step aside for someone else.

“Theurge for me to stay on came up. But as a democrat and a God-fearing person, I found it a moral obligation to uphold and respect the law of our very Constitution which limits the Presidential mandate to two terms in office. Asa democrat, I have been worried that some people hold office and are always itchy to change the Constitution and stay in office forever.”

Barrister Ajong, nevertheless, regretted that, though his administration recorded some successes, there were stilla number of things they left undone.

On the shortcomings of his reign, Ajong said they created a website, www.fakla.org; “But many lawyers do not yet know about this site.” He added that they had planned to set up a Permanent Secretariat for FAKLA.

“We got in contact with the SDO’s Office and the First Assistant SDO promised to help us find an unoccupied Government office building so that FAKLA could set up their Secretariat. I must confess this is one of the areas where I did not succeed.”

Attendance of meetings by members is another problem. Barrister Ajong stated that he was very satisfied with the way his executive managed the finances of the Association. He thanked the media for what he called the tremendous support which he received during his stewardship.

I’m Not Vying For FAKLA Presidency - Barrister Enow Meanwhile, Barrister Benjamin Enow, Ajong’s Vice President, said he was not going to contest the election.

“I would not be taking over from my outgoing President. If I had to, I would have applied to become a candidate as the constitution demands. But I didn’t,” Barrister Enow said.

He said working with Barrister Ajong, they had succeeded to carry FAKLA forward as a team and to him; it was time to give room for other lawyers to take over. “I think that at this point, we have done a tremendous job as a team and we are glad that we have nurtured so many younger lawyers who can take over.”

With the fear that the momentum of the political battle by those vying for positions in the next FAKLA executive might end up with undesirable consequences for the association, Barrister Enow advised that the contestants should, as the gentlemen and ladies that they are, be ready to fraternise in the same manner they do when they leave thecourtroom each day on opposing sides.

“I know that during this election time, hairs are split, people smash people’s toes, but I understand that we lawyers are always mature. We always know that it is just a game. We should just behave as we do in court,” he said.