Campaigns for the forthcoming Bar Elections in Cameroon schedule to take place on the 31 January, 2015 at the Cameroon Red Cross Conference Hall in Yaounde, have reached fever pitch.

As the countdown to the Bar Council General elective Assembly narrows, prospective candidates are currently cris-crossing the various Lawyers Association in the Country canvassing for support.

As the campaign gathers momentum there are fears that the incumbent President of the Bar Council, Barrister Sama Francis Asanga, won’t find it easy this time around as his challengers are emerging as the day draws nearer.

Meeting in a hotel down town Kumba on Thursday, 16 January, 2015, Barrister Jackson Ngnie Kamga and his campaign team led by the Senior Barrister Eta Besong Jnr. took Kumba by storm to announce their candidature and gave a vivid understanding of their manifesto, and how they intend to transform the Bar and the noble legal profession in Cameroon.

During the meeting that brought together around 80 Meme Lawyers, Barrister Eta Besong announced that he is no longer interested in the Bar Presidency but is rather throwing his weight behind Barrister Jackson Ngnie Kamga, whom he described as a square peg in a square hole under whose hands if the Bar Presidency is bestowed, things will never be the same again for the Council.

He regretted the fact that he is standing to campaign for the challenger of his good friend, Barrister Sama Francis, incumbent Batonnier, but however maintain its for the prosperity of the Cameroon Bar, which he said have suffered a lot for the past two years due to its leader.

After serving as Bar Council Member for some decades and as Bar Council President for about two successive mandate, Barrister Eta, maintained that though he is vying in as candidate for the Bar Council, he will spend his time in the council as he has been doing to assist the new Batonnier, Barrister Ngnie Kamga, with words of wisdom for him to carry the Bar forward.

On his part, Barrister Ngnie Kamga, who received a standing ovation from the cross section of Meme Lawyers who answered present at the campaign rally, announced that he is standing in for both the Bar Council and Bar presidency.

Though an incumbent member of the Bar Council, the Douala based legal practitioner with about 25 years standing observed that’ ‘everyone of us can equally assess the state of bankruptcy in which the Bar finds itself to, A speechless Bar, in all matters of general interest at the moment, a Bar unable to protect its members against all forms of abuses and ostracism its members are being victims everywhere, a Bar which benchmark is becoming essentially self identity and within which the Lawyer is not longer proud of his status”.

Bar Ngnie Kamga explained that the tenure of the present Bar council under Barrister Sama has not been able to resolve this situation and that with him at the helm, all these will come to pass.

Placing his mandate under ”audacity and Courage to radically change our future”, Barrister Kamga opined that, under his reign he shall enhance the training of pupil lawyers and ensure the preservation of the judicial heritage, ensure reestablishment of the Bar in its natural function of freedom watchdog, and the modernisation of the functioning of the Bar.

For the Bar to have sky as her limit, Bar Kamga narrated that, he will remain restless until the Bar Council stop accommodating itself with the current practices in our courts such as the different tariffs of registry’s act from one jurisdiction to another undue request for payment to judicial acts, unknown or non-respect of time for court session and the unnecessary length of time to solve ex parte applications by the court and the rampant corruption in the judicial system.

He announced that the team to transform this dream shall include Barristers Eta Besong Jnr, Ekolle Verine former Mayor of Mundemba who is eying the Bar Council under the Meme ticket, and Barrister Fousse Dominque incumbent Bar Council Member.