Cameroon Bar Association:

Lawyers lament disastrous management by erstwhile Batonniers

An audit report presented at an Ordinary General Assembly of the Bar on Saturday in Douala revealed huge embezzlements by successive former presidents of the club of learned men and women

By Mercy Neba with reports from Douala

Lawyers are disappointed with the wasteful

management of successive Bar Presidents

The President of the General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle has exhorted members of the Bar to maintain their calm and be peaceful despite the problems plaguing the smooth functioning of the otherwise prestigious association.

                Barrister Nico Halle made the call in his remarks at an Ordinary General Assembly of the Bar that held in Douala on Saturday, 21 May 2016.

                “No matter the context of our problems, we should remain peaceful and show love for one another,” Nico Halle said.

                He was speaking amid revelations of unbridled embezzlements and misappropriation of funds by some former presidents of the Bar Council.

                The over 500 lawyers that attended the General Assembly could not come to terms with the revelations of an audit report which showed that the management of former Batonnier Sama Francis was wasteful at best, and catastrophic at worse.

                Many lawyers could not digest for instance how and why Barrister Sama had to spend over Fcfa 230 millions just to acquire a piece of land which until now the Bar cannot take total possession of. It emerged that the Bar would still need to spend about Fcfa 25 millions in taxes if she must take possession of the piece of land in Yaounde.

                Apart from this, it was also not understood how the former Batonnier depleted over Fcfa 650 millions in under one year.

                “I am completely scandalized by the revelations of the audit report. Embezzlement has become the hallmark of latter day presidents of the Bar Council. It is shameful and disgraceful,” said a Buea-based lawyer who preferred to stay anonymous. 

                Though Batonnier Sama was blamed for wasteful spending, he was at once hailed for hiring a befitting Bar Headquarters and for organizing the last Bar Entrance Examinations. The exams had not been written for over seven years.

                Apart from Batonnier Sama’s “catastrophic mandate”, it also emerged that his predecessor’s was no better, or even worse. The audit report revealed that documents for a piece of land that Batonnier Charles Tchoungang claimed to have acquired in Nfou, a town some 17km from Yaounde, could not be found. Many men in wig-and-gown wondered aloud if truly the land was ever bought.

                Apart from the wastage of funds for land acquisition, other forms of ‘rascalic’ management were revealed. It emerged for instance that successive Bartonniers wasted huge sums for image-building ends. For example it was revealed that some former Batonniers spent lavishly on leisure trips abroad and for purchase of champagnes in night clubs and pubs.

                The lawyers could not help lamenting when Barrister Nico Halle revealed to them that the coffers of the Bar are in red. However, Nico Halle prayed them to calm down and look to the future with hope and optimism. “Let bygones be bygones,” he pleaded.

                Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle enjoined the learned men and women to love one another, be peaceful, and to always be their colleague’s keeper this, if only to protect and preserve the nobility of their cherished profession.

                At the time the General Assembly rose in the night of Saturday, there was no indication that the lawyers would pursue the disingenious and defalcatious Batonniers and ask them to account for the wasted money.