Forcing learned gentlemen of the law into the streets robed in their
wigs and gowns is something no Government should wish for. Lawyers are
the defenders of those without power, and the watchdogs of the rule of
law. Citizens, who are witnesses to such a spectacle, will immediately
feel fragile, and the existence of the rule of law in any country will
immediately be questioned. As pictures of lawyers flooded the social
media last November 08, 2016, and as I saw lawyers in the streets of
Bamenda armed only with their ideas, their professional paraphernalia
and the request for a dialogue, I wondered about the kind of denial that
causes a few to think that because they shut their eyes nothing is
happening; and that because they close their ears nothing is being said.
The fact that I can relate without any strain to the frustration of the
Common Law practitioner convinces me to conclude that, the effects of
cultural diversity in a country on the behavior of its citizens are
complex and powerful. The time has therefore come for our nation to put
into place a new paradigm for the management of our cultural diversity.
That is the price we must pay to find the true unity we seek and through
it the strength for which we clamor.
From the dawn of the
Federation of Cameroon, the biggest challenge that hung over it like the
“Damocles Sword”, was and has been the management of our diversity.
Passionate Southern Cameroonians who had the vision of a United States
of Africa, thought that maybe a United Cameroon was just the place to
start. They felt the shackles that were constituted by a legacy of
different colonial cultures could not be allowed to stand in the way of
the reunification of peoples torn apart and dispersed by a War they did
not start and had nothing to do with. A War which caused the colonizer
to suddenly discover in Africans the virtue of valuable partners for the
purposes of war but at the same time maintaining them as second class
citizens for the purposes of colonization. The Federation that was born
guaranteed the protection of diversity. It did so through its
constitution. A Bilingual Nation, Federated States with their own
Parliaments and Governments, a President and Vice President, one from
either culture. Inherited laws, practices and customs maintained in
either state of the federation and several other guaranties. So the
Common Law lawyers had a Bar freely elected and independent, the civil
law jurisdictions had no bar and were under the control of the
Government whose prerogative it was to appoint lawyers.
Under the
seduction of a 100% increase and even more in salaries West Cameroonians
made the chant “going federal” their mantra. Yes, salaries were doubled
even tripled, and some people moved to Yaounde. Arrears were paid on
the new salaries and people carted away ton loads of money.
“Federalization” was indeed a misnomer, for what in fact was the path to
a centralization that spelt the death of the Federation. Still in good
faith, the new form of the Union was given a chance. Dealing with the
legal framework meant the organization of the Bar had to be revisited.
So a new Law was passed in 1972 creating a Cameroon Bar totally
controlled by the Government in which the lawyers were appointed by a
presidential decree. The decade that followed was one in which the Bar
fought for its independence and that is another story. The point of this
article is not to make a pilgrimage into the past, but to reflect on
the way forward. Some of those who have made the need to have a
homogenous society their objective have failed to ensure that it does
not become synonymous to assimilation. Any society with a minority that
has a specific historical, geographical, and socio-political history
must be managed in a manner to allay any fears of assimilation or
discrimination and prejudice.
The movement of the Common Law Lawyers
today must bring us to admit that, diversity in our country has been
mismanaged. This has produced, negative dynamics, ethnocentrism,
stereotyping and cultural clashes. These negative dynamics over the
years have combined with imbalanced structures to create an atmosphere
of social injustice. While it is true that diversity might well create
ambiguity complexity and even confusion, the danger of assimilation
under the guise of harmonization now appears as a time bomb. In such an
atmosphere polarization of social groups becomes easy and this
ultimately will breed cynicism and resentment and even heighten friction
and tension that could all lead to unfathomable consequences in terms
of civil and political unrest.
It will be remiss of me to give the
impression that there are no other diversities to be managed. Different
groups have come up with memoranda about their regions, what is the
response? These are the cries of people who feel that they have been
left behind or in some cases left out totally. Many international
reports have concluded that the economic predicament of the areas
attacked in the Central African Region, indeed facilitated the
penetration by the terrorists. Thus many regions do face discrimination
in many subtle forms, which are slowly contributing to disappointment
and anger. When conflict is the unfortunate outcome, the “majority” or
the group controlling power will see and treat any incident as
“isolated” when in fact the minority just count it as another event in
the pattern of oppression and injustice that is imbedded in the system.
I must hasten to add that there have been times when I have personally
been witness to the clear demonstration of political will to protect
diversity and ensure the respect of our constitution. When the very
first OHADA laws were promulgated, the then Minister of Justice, Mr.
Laurent Esso, delayed the application of the OHADA laws throughout the
territory until they were translated and duly gazetted. He did this
regardless of the coming into force date as per the Treaty. He insisted
to the dismay OHADA authorities that our nation is bilingual and
bi-jural. Further the accommodation of customary law in our judicial
system is clear evidence of the fact that diversity can be accommodated.
In the final analysis, we must avoid building a nation where dialogue
is assimilated to weakness and the strength of nation demonstrated by
the use of force against its own people. We must have a system that
builds in horizontal and vertical communication in the management of our
diversity. We must unlearn practices rooted in an old mind set, change
the way we manage diversity in our nation, shift our culture, revamp our
policies, redesign and create new structures and emphasize the fact the
ultimate goal of any Government is a better life for it citizens. The
Swiss, the Nigerians, the Belgians, the Canadians, the Tanzanians just
to name a few have all learned this. It is urgent that a high level
Dialogue be initiated. So heed to the cry of the Common Law Lawyers we
must, otherwise in the words of Alan Paton in his revered book Cry the
Beloved Country “I have one great fear in my heart, that one day, when
they are turned to loving they will find that we are turned to hating”.
Respecting diversity might well mean CRTV will have a channel or
channels in English, Cameroon Tribune reverts to having an English
Edition as it once did and the Supreme Court having Common Law Benches
sitting as it once was.
The cultural assimilation of a people no
matter how well disguised cannot be successful and can ultimately only
lead to disastrous consequences for all the concerned. The legal system
of Cameroon is bi-jural constitutionally, politically socially,
culturally and intellectually. Disregarding this fact is an assault on
the very foundation on which our nation is built.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
