Some 203 Southwest Lawyers, meeting in a general assembly in Muyuka on September 27, have asked Cameroon Bar Council President, Barrister Francis Sama, to take a new mandate.

The meeting, organised by Fako Lawyers Association, FAKLA, and attended by the newly elected executive of the Meme Lawyers Association, MELA, held at the Chariot Hotel Annex, Muyuka, and the entire house of about 203 lawyers hailed “the achievements and ergonomic manner in which Barrister Sama has handled issues of the Cameroon Bar Association.”

The FAKLA meeting took stock of their activities for the past three years under the leadership of Barrister Stanislaus Ajong and also gave an account of the recent Cameroon Bar Association General Assembly that took place in Buea.

The meeting was attended by the President of the General Assembly, Barrister Emmanuel Tang and five members of the Cameroon Bar Council, to wit; Barristers Tchakuonté Patie, Emmanuel Biligha, Eta Besong Junior, Kemende and Charles Njualem.

The presence of members of the Bar executive, one of the lawyers observed, “is evidence that one cannot be part of the governing body of the Cameroon Bar without being a friend of FAKLA.”

Barrister Tang congratulated Fako Lawyers for their wonderful organisation of what he described as a successful and hitch-free General Assembly last June 2014 in Buea. Tang thanked the President of the Organising Committee of that General Assembly, Barrister John Kameni Sichui (his representative of the General Assembly President in the Southwest), saying he has reconfirmed his confidence in him and the entire FAKLA.

Tang, then, announced the elective General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar in Buea next month, November 2014.

The President of FAKLA, Stanislaus Ajong, highlighted the achievement of FAKLA throughout his three years in office and prayed that the image of FAKLA should grow from strength to strength. He said, with the announcement of the elective General Assembly in Buea, it was also time to thank the Bar President, Barrister Sama, for his diligent and careful manner in handling issues of the association, after a very stormy and tumultuous five years of the former leadership. He hailed Barrister Sama for achieving so much in such a short time.

Ajong enumerated the effective writing of the long awaited Bar Exams, the acquisition of a piece of land for the construction of the Bar headquarters in Yaounde, the move of the Bar head office to a more befitting environment, the fight against the appointment of Notaries in the Northwest and Southwest Regions and, minding this decision, a resolution of the entire Cameroon Lawyers plight, among others, as reasons for Sama and his team to stay at the helm of the Cameroon Bar.

FAKLA issued a Certificate of Recognition, Encouragement and Support to Sama, while calling “on the entire advocates’ family, nationwide, to give Barrister Sama a second mandate.”

Asked why the presence of these dignitaries of the Bar at the local level, Barrister Kameni replied: “The hierarchy of the Bar is aware that they can never be at the helm without the base. And the present leader is confident of its position because of the strong base they have which has been consolidated by their constant presence, positive practice and common interest related attitude towards handling lawyers’ issues. Having members of Bar Council present in the meeting organised by an association of lawyers at regional level is no mistake. It is proof of FAKLA’s strength and also the good relationship that exists between Southwest Lawyers and the present administration of the Bar. It is no social accident that the committee in charge of Awards in FAKLA honoured the Batonnier and the President of the General Assembly and pledged to give them 100 percent support if they desire to be at the service of Cameroon advocates in the same capacities.”

Barrister Tang observed; “We have maintained good relations with the Bar Council and enjoyed a privileged relationship with the Bar President.” Congratulating Sama, Tang hailed the convivial relationship that exists between the two organs of the Bar, remarking that proof of it is the hitch-free General Assembly that held in Buea last June.

“This is unlike in the past, where the Bar President and the General Assembly President were persistently involved in diatribes, which did not further the interest of the Bar in any way,” he averred.

Barrister Jean Claude Biligha, Treasurer of the Bar Association also praised his boss for keeping the treasury solvent. He said as they financed the last General Assembly in total harmony with the President of the General Assembly, they are fully prepared to finance the November confab without complaint of financial constraints.

He made mention of the purchase of the parcel of land for the Bar at the Omnisport Stadium between Mansel Hotel and Christ Church in Yaounde. He urged Lawyers to be financially up-to-date with the association.

Barrister Tchakounté Patie, described as a “special friend” to Southwest Lawyers, expressed happiness being present. As a member of the team involved in the Bar exams, he hailed the level of preparedness of Anglophone candidates, saying the final results will prove him right. He encouraged his English-speaking counterparts to continue training lawyers in strict respect of the Anglo-Saxon tradition they inherited. He crowned his participation by making a pecuniary contribution to FAKLA.

The host, President of Muyuka Lawyers, Deborah Itoe, congratulated FAKLA for its solidarity and particularly thanked the Bar President for his personal support to the Muyuka come-together. She prayed him to continue to steer the affairs of the Bar in the next coming years. She also lauded the General Assembly President for braving the distance to come and commune with Southwest Lawyers in Muyuka.