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Cameroon |
DEMOCRACY
The Catholic Church to supervise the elections
Cameroon’s Opposition has called for an Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI). But what has happened? The government established a National Electoral Watchdog (ONEL). However, the Catholic Church wants to act as a referee and has also established «A Christian Election Watchdog», in order to guarantee transparency and equity during the municipal elections to be held in 2002.
Electoral transparency is the principal factor at stake in the coming municipal
elections. Most Opposition members have no confidence in the present government
to organise elections.
They haven’t forgotten the sad history of the 1992, 1996 and 1997 elections,
which prove that, faced with the state’s overpowering authoritarianism and
bureaucracy, no election has ever really expressed the aspirations of the
Cameroonian people.
Consequently, opposition parties have recommended the establishment of an Independent National Electoral Commission, whose task will consist in organising all procedures, from the drawing up of voters’ lists, to the publication of election results. The Commission will supervise the drawing up of electoral lists, the distribution of voters’ cards, providing for and running polling stations, the organisation of the electoral campaign and the counting of votes.
Jean-Baptiste Sipa, a personality close to the Opposition, justifies the creation of such a structure: «Cameroon’s electoral system suffers from inherent fraud. To cure it, the Press the Churches, NGOs and political parties have agreed that a structure which is independent of the authorities should be set up.
This permanent structure will be responsible for organising all elections leading to the eventual choice of the nation’s leaders and central, regional and local representatives throughout the country.» All in all, the Opposition seems to be asking the present government to organise its own defeat, by giving its approval to a structure which is totally outside its control.
General outcry
Taking an opposing viewpoint to opposition demands, President Paul Biya created ONEL, which was approved by Parliament on 19 December 2000. And on 10 October 2001, he appointed its 11 members. ONEL‘s foundation was hotly contested and disapproved by the Opposition and the appointment of its members provoked a general outcry. Opposition legal experts carefully examined the law and found two flagrant anomalies in articles 3 and 5.
Article 3, line 3 states: «ONEL‘s members are to be chosen among independent personalities who are Cameroonian nationals, known for their moral integrity, their intellectual honesty, their neutrality and their impartiality. In the exercise of their functions they should neither solicit nor receive instructions or orders from any public or private authority.» And Article 5 stipulates that «members of government and similar categories of person, secretaries general of ministries and similar persons and persons exercising a national, regional or local elected function cannot be ONEL members.»
But what happened? Lawyer Tsapy Lavoisier, legal adviser to the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), points out that ONEL‘s chairman, Enoch Kwayeb, is a well-known active supporter of the ruling Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People (RDPC). He is a RDPC municipal councillor, and to cap it all, is a substitute member of the party’s Central Committee. Likewise for the other members: Mr Nguele Meke Roger is a RDPC municipal councillor and Mrs Nicole Claire Ndocko is vice-rector of the university of Douala, a function which is similar to the secretary-general of a ministry.
From these facts, the different opposition parties feel that the presence of active government supporters within ONEL, deprives ONEL of its necessary neutrality and impartiality. The SDF petitioned the Supreme Court that the decree nominating ONEL members, should be annulled. President Biya has also been requested to retract his decree.
@TITRE_3 = The Church’s arbitration
Faced with what promises to be a tug-of-war between the government and the Opposition, the Catholic Church wants to act as a referee to avoid social tension in the country. It foresees the participation of Christian observers in the elections.
The Episcopal Conference has given its blessing to the project. A training seminar for observers designated by the Church to serve in voting stations throughout the country, is to be held from 29 October to 2 November at Yaoundé. The aim is to put in place competent, courageous Christians to act as observers so that the whole process is seen to be transparent, and so assure stronger democracy in Cameroon.
Father Titi Nwel, Cameroon’s National Justice and Peace Coordinator, explains: «This is the first time the Catholic Church intends to be involved in the electoral process. It wants to make sure that post-electoral peace is not disrupted; the presence of neutral observers is sadly lacking in the electoral process in Cameroon. When European observers come to supervise the elections here, they remain in their large hotels and never go to see what is happening in the villages.»
The Church doesn’t aim to take the government-established ONEL‘s place; neither does it want to support CENI. It simply wants to make its contribution towards strengthening peace and the democratic process, by means of electoral transparency which will guarantee an equal chance of success to all parties.
The Church knows that it cannot prevent government-appointed local officials from cheating. It knows also that politicians, whether they are of the government or the Opposition, will not perhaps give up electoral fraud. But it is strongly convinced that the building up of justice and peace in Cameroon today, must necessarily come by way of the polling booth.
Even if the Ministry of Territorial Administration, main organiser of the elections, apparently has no objection to the Church’s initiative, all the same, the government is wondering about the motivation of this involvement. A senior official in the ministry has commented: «The Church wants to embarrass the Government. But we remain vigilant to see what are its real intentions.»
Confidence reigns!
On the whole there is transparency neither on the side of the government nor on the part of the Opposition. Nobody trusts ONEL whose work is limited to observing the electoral process, then making a report to be presented to the President who will do with it whatever he likes. Supervision of the proclamation of the results, contentious electoral matters and validation of the results are outside the competence of this body. All this leads one to believe that ONEL is a devious and artificial means adopted by the government, to avoid the embarrassment caused by the condition of good government required by Western fund providers.
On the other hand, nobody believes in the sincerity and good faith of the Opposition in its demand for an independent National Electoral Commission. Its terms of reference, its competence, its room for manoeuvre, its authority and the constitution of its members are considered incapable of providing a viable solution to the problem of transparency; all the more so as the Opposition constantly shows a thirst for changing sides.
Many people are also wondering about the quality of the cooperation which both Opposition and Government are ready to give the Church, to allow it to act as referee in a society where the wolves often appear in sheep’s clothing. Cheating in elections is generally a personal initiative by individuals belonging to the Opposition or the government trying to better their social position, by «trying on» different manoeuvres contrary to democracy. Local opinion often blames the present government.
Cameroon’s electoral system seems to be taken hostage by individuals greedy for political and administrative jobs. The introduction of a transparent electoral system does not match their selfish interests.
The party which wins the forthcoming municipal elections will perhaps not be the one which has convinced the electors by a social program which meets the needs of the people. In that case, Cameroon will be the loser in the elections.
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