The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 in Yaounde endorsed five government bills defended by the relevant cabinet ministers. Discussions were led by Foreign Affairs Committee Deputy Chairperson, Mohaman Gabdo Yaya. Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee yesterday, November 27, 2014, approved the sixth bill on petroleum price reviews. Reports of the two committees will be presented in plenary for possible adoption of the bills.

The bills were defended before the Vice Prime Minister, Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, Amadou Ali and the Minister Delegate in the Ministry of External Relations in charge of Relations with the Commonwealth, Joseph Dion Ngute.

The ministers who defended the bills were Laurent Esso of Justice, Rene Emmanuel Sadi of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, the Minister Delegate in the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Yaouba Abdoulaye, and Ama Tutu Muna of Culture.

The first of the bills seeks to authorise the President of the Republic to ratify the Organisation of African Unity, OAU, Convention on the Prevention and Combatting of Terrorism, which was adopted in Algiers, Algeria, on 14 July 1999.

The second is to authorise the President of the Republic to ratify the Protocol to the OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combatting of Terrorism, adopted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 8 July 2004.

The third bill is to permit the President of the Republic to ratify the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance, adopted in Khartoum, Sudan, on 24 January 2006.

The fourth is to allow the President of the Republic to proceed with the membership of Cameroon to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally-displaced Persons (IDPs) in Africa, adopted in Kampala, Uganda, on 22 October 2009.

On the other hand, another bill seeks to ratify Ordinance No. 2014/1 of 7 July 2014 on reducing the Special Tax on Petroleum Products (STPP) and other taxes payable by passengers and goods carriers.

The last of the bills seeks to authorise the President of the Republic to ratify the Lake Chad Basin Water Charter, adopted in N’Djamena, Chad, on 30 April 2012.