About a year ago, a Cameroonian socio-educational critic presented Barrister Halle as someone with a secret agenda. Someone who is dreaming to be appointed a Minister in Biya’s cabinet. Gradually, we are starting to see what someone brought to our attention about 1 year ago.
It is understood that Barrister Halle Ntumfor requested his representative in Fako Division (Barrister John Kameni) to send out a communiqué.

The communiqué was not well received by a good number of Cameroon Common lawyers. Halle requested that the communiqué be modified. Well, how come the communiqué was not double-checked by Halle before publication?
If Ntumfor requested Kameni to modify the communiqué, it means that there was an error in the original communiqué. It could also mean that the NW Common Lawyers were right to express their frustration with a communiqué that Halle and John came up with. It is a confirmation from them (John Kameni and Halle Ntumfor) that the original communiqué did not meet the expectation of the lawyers.

It is believed Kameni later on sent out a modified communiqué which read, “the President of the general assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association upon traveling to Yaounde to meet the Minister of State, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals to discuss salient issues on the translation of the OHADA uniform act, announces to all lawyers that he is in total negotiations with the Minister of State, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals for the effective translation of the OHADA uniform act.”

How can Halle be in ‘’total negotiations with the Minister of State’’ when Halle is ‘’upon traveling to Yaounde’ to meet the Minister of State’’?

MINISTER OF STATE DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM BLACKLEG LAWYERS

Cameroononline.org reports that John Kameni finds it ‘’absurd for lawyers in Cameroon to request their government to translate into English, a document supposed to be written in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese by a council of ministers’’. Kameni’s declaration seems to be that of a man who is trying to befriend the regime. If John Kameni considers his colleagues’ request to the Minister of State as absurd and that the translation ‘’is the job of the council of ministers of member countries of the OHADA uniform act’’, then one begins to wonder why ‘’the minister of state has immediately ordered his technical staff to accelerate and come out with the translated version of the OHADA uniform act as soon as possible.” John, on whose behalf are you speaking? The Minister is not on your side.

DISCLAIMER

As requested by Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla, President of the Fako Lawyers’ Association, FAKLA, Philip Awutah Atubah, President of the Meme Lawyers’ Association, MELA, Harmony Bobga-Mbuton, President of the North West Lawyers’ Association, NOWELA, Emilien Ngangjoh Sopseh, President of the Manyu lawyers’ Association, MALA, Halle Ntumfor should write a ‘’disclaimer against the erroneous communiqué to make the second one valid’’. This is what should be done.

BLACKLEGGING

Kameni, as reported by Blasting News and Cameroononline.org, claims that the leaders of strike are part members of ‘SCNC which is fighting for the Independence of the former British Cameroon, currently administered as Anglophone regions of the Republic of Cameroon’. The news outlets go further to state that Kameni thinks the striking lawyers ‘’are also trying to win the hearts of Anglophone lawyers who will vote in forthcoming Bar elections’’. Mr Kameni, what is bad in that? If you are against an English version of the OHADA Act, if you are against SCNC , if you are opposed to an Anglophone leading the Bar and you are a staunch CPDM dude, then you should not use your feelings to frustrate a cause that is not even harmful to anyone.

DYSFUNCTIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION

And as Barrister Agbor Mballa rightly put it, “those are the rantings of a confused person”. What explanation can Kameni give to Barrister Bobga, when Barrister Bobga asserts that ‘’neither the Bar Council nor Bar Association has ever officially and specifically addressed the concerns raised by Common Law layers since their first stormy meeting in May 2015’’?

DIVIDE and RULE

The President does not need to fight us. The President is like a colonial master. He uses divide and rule form of governance. He lodges at Continental Hotel in Geneva and sends his silly agents, who are mostly one of us, to fight us for his own gains. The possession of an academic qualification is not a proof of intelligence. That is why we sometimes find these so-called learned colleagues, acting as headless human beings.

According to BaretaNews, the Common Law Lawyers must negotiate from the position of strength. They should be ready to break away from the Cameroon Bar Association and forms a Southern Cameroons Bar Council. It is only then the Government will take them seriously. It is the BaretaNews views that if such a position is taken, Mr. Biya will be forced to dialogue. The Southern Cameroons signature referendum is currently going on in Southern Cameroons-Lawyers should seize this moment.

Mark Bara with files from Callistus Funjong.

God is still saying something