Reforming the institutions for a flexible, efficient and participative
management of the Republic

  • The constitutional reform with a view to rebalancing powers within the State, first between the executive, the parliament and the judiciary then, within the Executive between the Presidency of the Republic and the Government, and finally between the State and the Regions or the Federated States if this is the choice of Cameroonians.
  • At the judicial level, the issue of judicial appointments, the question of traditional jurisdictions (which vary from one traditional chieftaincy to another, and sometimes in defiance of the law) are all topics that deserve to be addressed when implementing a new form of the organisation of the Cameroonian society that Cameroonians wish for. The independence of the judiciary should be one of the cornerstones of this reform to ensure the proper functioning of the institutions. This
    is not the case today with magistrates who are not at all independent from the Executive. Indeed, the President of the Republic is the head of the executive power and presides at the same time the High Council of the Judiciary, body that « makes and breaks » the careers of judges, the rapporteur of which is the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, himself from the executive power.
  • In terms of security, the defence forces, as well as the judicial and scientific police, face new forms of threats, which requires a redefinition of their missions and a consequent allocation of financial, material and human resources for the fulfilment of these missions.
  • With the effective implementation of decentralisation and regionalisation, the Regions as well as the municipalities will be confronted with new skills or missions that will make it necessary to revise the fiscal equalisation rules in order to allocate the financial resources of the State in favour of these new entities.

Modernising the institutions

  • The limitation of the number of presidential terms to a one-time renewable mandate;
  • The presidential election in two rounds;
  • Lowering of the voting age from 20 to 18 years;
  • The rebalancing of power between the Executive and the Parliament: allow parliamentarians to set up parliamentary inquiry commissions without requiring the approval of the President of the Republic as is the case in practice today; involve the Parliament in appointing the heads of the main judicial institutions (First President of the Supreme Court, President of the Constitutional Council); to place the Sovereign Fund under parliamentary control; inform Parliament of the management of the country’s natural resources;
  • The rebalancing of power within the Executive, between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister: make the Prime Minister the true head of the Government with necessary authority who carries out his mission of coordinating government action and implementing the policy defined by the Head of State; the latter maps out the direction by defining the national policy, the Prime Minister is responsible for implementing the policy thus defined.
  •  The strengthening of the judiciary, inter alia, by reducing the influence of the executive on the func tioning of judicial institutions: the Superior Council of the Judiciary will no longer be chaired by the Head of State, but by the first President of the Supreme Court; its composition will be modified to include representatives of civil society.
  • The creation of a Cameroonian national language;

Rule of law and justice

  • Restoration of the rule of law and the inscription of freedom of expression, the protection of journalists and their sources of information and the freedom of association in a charter of democracy.
  • Guaranteeing that the law is fair, widely disseminated and applied without any discrimination to all, State and citizens of any kind.
  • Strengthening legal and judicial security. In particular, magistrates’ assessment commissions will be set up in the courts of jurisdiction and courts of appeal, composed of judges and civil society figures.
  • The reform of the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court, in particular to give it power to sanction the authorising officers and accountants.
  • The creation of a perfectly bilingual law school (Cameroon Law School / Institute of Judicial Studies) for the training of court officers (Lawyers, Notaries, Bailiffs). It will be managed in consultation with the professional orders, which will be full-fledged educational facilitators. More than one such school can be created in different parts of the country.
  • The guarantee to every Cameroonian citizen, any national or foreign investor that the same law will be applied to all.
  •  We will complete the reform of the judicial system, in particular by settling the question of traditional jurisdictions, the independence of the judiciary, in particular through the system of appointment of magistrates, the creation and establishment of missing jurisdictions
  •  The preference and encouragement of dialogue as a tool for consultation between the various social partners, particularly between employers and trade unions.

A Consensual Electoral Code

  • The introduction of the single ballot;
  • Taking into account the constitutional revision introducing the elections in two rounds;
  • The same probative force in all ballot result count records in a polling station given to the representatives of the candidates and to ELECAM: all the records will be equally authentic;
  • The reform of ELECAM, in particular its composition, to include the representatives of political parties and the methods of appointment of its leaders;
  • Taking into account the constitutional revision introducing the vote at 18 years;
  • The introduction of compulsory voting in Cameroon.

Re-thought police

  • We will reform the police by starting with its programmatic doctrine, its philosophy of maintaining public order that today merges with the maintenance of political order inherited from the colonial administration. An intelligent and modular network of society and territory will be set up.
  • We will strengthen the skills and equipment of our security forces in judicial police, forensic science, economic investigations.

Redefining the status and role of traditional authorities

We will redefine the status and role of traditional authorities. Indeed, the concept of auxiliary of the administration which summarises their status currently seems reductive and should be expanded. Specifically, an Assembly of Traditional Chiefs will be established among regional or federated institutions, with consultative power over general development issues of the Region (or the Federated State) and deliberative power over matters relating to or in connection with traditional practices and customs. This Assembly will also participate in the monitoring of development projects in the Region (or the Federated State).

Increasing the means of municipalities and regions

We will reform the financial system in the context of decentralisation (or federalism) in order to allocate more financial resources to municipalities and regions (or federated entities).

Rationalizing public institutions

The limitation of the number of ministerial departments This limitation will be achieved by grouping or deleting certain ministerial departments. In any case there will be no more than 25 ministerial departments. The abolition of the Economic and Social Council, an obsolete institution produced by the centralised State, is not adapted to the context of the new State to be organised on a regional or federal basis.