Last Monday, April 1, 2024, the Democratic Union of Cameroon faced the press in the conference room of the deputies' hotel to present its proposal submitted to the National Assembly for a profound reform of the laws relating to the organization of traditional chiefdoms in our country. Gathered around its Leader, Mrs. Mayor of Foumban Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya, the elected representatives of the people under the leadership of the honorable Koupit Adamou presented the outlines and motivations which contributed to making this proposed law.
This is the bill repealing certain provisions of Law No. 79/17 of June 30, 1979 relating to disputes raised during the designation of traditional chiefs and of Law No. 80/31 of November 27, 1980 relinquishing jurisdiction over cases relating to disputes raised during the designation of traditional chiefs presented and defended by the honorable Youmo Koupit Adamou, UDC deputy of the 10th legislature. This follows a reflection already carried out in his time by the late president of the UDC, Dr. Adamou Ndam Njoya with his publication entitled: What traditional authority in Cameroon in the 3rd millennium. It is a question of situating our traditional chiefdoms at the heart of scientific frameworks which resist the moods of people and the wear and tear of time because they are firmly anchored on objective and concrete foundations.
The objective being to restore, in an innovative perspective, the letters of nobility to ancestral heritage which, at a given moment, can assume responsibilities as hereditary or elected successors as is the case in the Lamidats. All this to include our traditions in the republican and democratic dynamic and stripping them of everything that is negative and retrograde. The UDC took stock of this with the men and women of the media in a total absence of the elected representatives of the majority who were nevertheless invited to this presentation.
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Honorable Youmo Koupit Adamou, UDC
« It is a question of making a public presentation of the bill that we have just submitted to the national assembly in compliance with the constitution and the laws governing the internal regulations of the said chamber. This is a bill which aims to repeal two laws which for us are those which downgrade the achievements that we may have had in our country in the area of freedoms, of citizens to have justice done to themselves.
These laws were passed in a context where public power was used to settle personal scores and this aimed to remove the disputes arising from the designation of our traditional leaders from the jurisdiction of our jurisdictions to place it within the jurisdiction of the authorities. administrative authorities who are the masters in the designation process and who are generally at the origin of these disputes. We have noted that they are judges and parties, it is a setback of the rule of law and we believe that the base chamber by giving a favorable response to this proposal will have made it possible to consolidate the rule of law by giving the possibility it is up to the citizen to get justice done. But beyond this restitution of rights, we all observe that the problems of traditional chiefdoms and land rights are entitled to become the main sources of tension and violent conflicts with generally human deaths. Our proposed law aims to curb bloodletting to maintain peace and social cohesion ».
Clément Noumsi
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