1. PRESENTED BY OKOLE MOKOLO NANGO 24 NOVEMBER 2010 GLOBAL LAW AND SOCIETY FORUM(GLSF) A PRESENTATION ON CAMEROON POLITICAL SYSTEM

2. Table of content Introduction A-Separation of power 1-The legislative 2-The Executive. B-The History of political parties C-Elections. D-The culture of political parties

3. Introduction Cameroon was colonized by the Germans in 1884. After the Germans defeat in the First World War, German overseas territories were handed to the Allied powers as League of Nations Mandate. In this respect Cameroon came under the administration of France and Britain in 1916. The French part of Cameroon (known as East Cameroon) was the largest about 80%, while the British part (known as West Cameroon) was about 20% and was administered as part of the Eastern Region of Nigeria by the British for convenience purpose. The French section gained independence in 1960 with Amadou Ahidjo as its president. In the plebiscite or term it referendum of October 1 1961, the British section was divided between Nigeria and former French Cameroon.

4. Introduction The northern part of West Cameroon gained independence by joining Nigeria while the Southern part, today referred to as Southern Cameroon constituting the English speaking regions accepted independence by joining the former French Cameroon to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Since independence Cameroon has had a highly centralized political system with a very strong executive, with a National Assembly dominated by the ruling Party. Until 1990, Cameroon had a single party-the Cameroon National Union (CNU) later renamed the Cameroon Democratic Movement (CPDM).

5. A-Separation of power Power is separated between the Legislative, the executive and the judiciary. Cameroon has a presidential system where the president has so much power. 1-The legislative: Bicameral legislature-National Assembly and the Senate. National Assembly. -It constitute of 180 members -Each member is elected for a 5 year term. -Each constituency has one MP (member of parliament). -The National Assembly has been dominated for 18 years now by the ruling CPDM party. -The Speaker of the National Assembly is voted by other MPs along side four vice and for 18 years Cavaye Gibriel yegue of the of the CPDM party has been the speaker. -MPs enjoy Parliamentary immunities. The Senate It is yet to go into effect though provided in the constitution. It would constitute of 100 members and 30 of whom shall be appointed by the President.

6. 2-The Executive (a) The President He is the Head of State The President is elected by a majority of votes cast through equal and secret universal suffrage. The President of the Republic is elected for a term of office of 7 years. He was eligible for re-election once. Now there is no term limit as per the April 2008 Amendments of the Constitution. Where the Office of the President is vacant, the president of the National Assembly shall act as interim president until a new president is elected. He may neither amend the constitution nor composition of the Government. He may not run for the office of the President. The president must be Cameroonian by birth and must have attained the age of 35.

7. President The president can dissolve the parliament after due consultation with the president of the National Assembly and the constitutional council. -He shall be sworn in by the President of the National Assembly before the MPs, the members of Supreme Court and the Cameroonian people.

8. The Prime Minister He is the head of Government. He is appointed by the President. There is an unofficial arrangement that when the prime Minister is from the English speaking (Anglophone) part of Cameroon, the Speaker of the House of National Assembly will come from the Northern part of Cameroon which is French speaking but occupied by Muslims. The prime Minister can be dismissed at any time by the president. -He makes proposals to the president for the appointment of ministers, Governors and other members of government.

9. Ministers They are head of Ministries. They are appointed by the President. There are over 33 ministries in Cameroon. The Capital City Yaounde Host the Head quarters of all the ministries. The ministries are decentralized to all the Regions.

10. Governors Governors are head of regions. They are appointed by the president and he equally dismisses or transfer them from one region to other. There are 10 Regions in Cameroon. And it should be noted that the name Region came into use only in 2008. Regions were formerly called provinces. Regions are made up of Divisions.

11. Divisional Officers Divisional Officers (D.O) are representatives of the Head of State at the Divisions. Divisions are made up of sub-divisions and how many sub-divisions make up a Division depends on the largeness and population of the Division. Divisional Officers are generally referred to as Senior Divisional Officer (S.D.O). Sub-Divisional Officer. A Sub-Divisional officer is the representative of the president in a Sub-Division. A Sub-Division is a sub unit of a division.

12. Mayors and Government Delegates Mayors are elected for a period of five year term for each council area and city council area. Councils with special status known as city councils are headed by a Government Delegate appointed by the Head of State. A city council comprises of more than one council. The D.O and the Sub-Divisional officers stand as supervisory authorities to the Mayors and government Delegates and in certain circumstances especially where the Mayor is from the opposition party, there is always a friction in the relationship between the D.O and the mayors.

13. The history of political parties Before independence and unification, political parties existed in both parts of Cameroon. In British Cameroon political parties were divided on three opinions: those which advocated independence by joining Nigeria; those who wanted independence by joining French Cameroon; and those who advocated independence independently from Nigeria and French Cameroon. In French Cameroon with Amadou Ahidjo as President, there were two major political parties: the ruling Cameroon National Union (CNU) and the Union Populaires Camerounaise (UPC) which is the only party existing till date with the same name. The UPC was noted for its strong advocacy for independence. Therefore Cameroon achieved independence and unification under a multiparty banner but less than a decade later, the country had adopted the one party political model. In 1966 the CNU became the country’s only recognized political party with only a change in party’s name in 1985 to the Cameroon Democratic Movement (CPDM).

14. The history of political parties Cameroon maintained the single political party system until 1990 when multipartism was introduced. Today Cameroon has over 200 political parties with the major opposition party being the Social Democratic Front (SDF). On the 20 th of May 1972, a day now celebrated as the Cameroon National Day, the Federal Republic of Cameroon was changed to the United Republic of Cameroon through the adoption of a unitary constitution. President Ahidjo stepped down on the 4 of November 1982 and left power to his constitutional successor Paul Biya who was the prime minister. President Paul Biya has been in Power till date.

15. Elections No elections were held in Cameroon until 1992 when the first democratic elections were held seeing the massive influence of the SDF. Elective positions include: the president of the of the Republic; MPs, and mayors in presidential, legislative and municipal elections respectively. President Paul Biya was handed power by Ahidjo not by election but because of the poor health of the latter. The CPDM party has emerged victorious in all presidential and legislative elections with the SDF emerging victorious only in the municipal elections in the 1997.

16. The culture of political parties Political parties are organized at the national, Provincial, Divisional and Sub-divisional level. All political parties have uniforms to distinguish them from each other. These uniforms are worn at each official meetings and on National days. Political parties partake in the National day and 11 th February (youth day) celebrations. Party discipline is highly exercised.

17. Amadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya

18. The current prime minister Yang Philemon and former Ephraim Inoni.

19. John Fru Ndi-Chairman of SDF

20. The National Assembly and a Member of Parliament.

21. The presidency and some militants of CPDM