Gov’t Officials Adopt Roadmap for ATT Domestication

- This was at a two-day workshop on 18 and 19 January 2018, in Mbalmayo near Yaounde.

By Mercy Neba in Mbalmayo

MINREX  representative, Mrs Anne Chantal Namah making her opening remarks

At a two day workshop that drilled more than 25 national administrations on the domestication of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), senior government officials committed themselves to implement the process. The workshop on January 18thand 19th, at Hotel Saint Andre Relais, in Mbalmayo near Yaounde, articulated the need for key government ministries to fully engage in the domestication and implementation of the ATT process.

                During the workshop, the government officials expressed satisfaction as to the progress made so far by the Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) and CAMYOSFOP. Amongst the participants present at the workshop were various stakeholders from the Ministry of Defence, Secretary of State at the Gendarmerie, Secretary General of National Security and representatives from customs just to name few.

                One of the presentations focused on the implication of law no 2016/015 of 14 December 2016 on arms and ammunition for the establishment of a national system of transfer of weapons and the control of weapons. The presentation laid emphasis on the general regime of arms and ammunition in Cameroon and the setting up of a national commission for the management and control of arms.

                Synchronized under the theme “the role of national administrations on the domestication of the ATT” the workshop aimed at mobilizing key government ministries towards understanding the treaty and facilitating the ATT process. A number of ministries are to be put in place to have a successful implementation process with every expert in the process to understand the rules and other conventions of the ATT.

                The Cameroon’s project on fast tracking the universalization and the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) saw the full involvement of senior administrators in their participation and recommendations. Recommendations that followed comprise; advocating for the government to ensure that the National Arms Control Commission (NACC) is mandated to regulate all arms including conventional and non-conventional arms. Secondly, ensure that civil society is represented in the NACC in accordance with well-defined criteria for its effective and meaningful participation in the arms control processes in Cameroon and also strengthen the capacity of all government actors involved in arms transfer.

                In his welcome speech, the Executive Director of Cameroon Youths and Students Forum for Peace (CAMYOSFOP) NGALIM Eugine Nyuydine recollected that the bill to ratify the ATT is in progress as it was already adopted by parliament and endorsed by the Head of State for the next phase of ratification. He further informed participants that Cameroon is one amongst the 154 member states that adopted the treaty on April 2nd, 2013 and had it signed on December 3rd, 2014. The treaty was adopted on April 2, 2013 by UN member countries that became a binding treaty since December 2014 when it entered into force and immediately more than 50 member states ratified the treaty.

                The Director of UN and decentralise cooperation, Madam Anne Chantal Namah representing MINREX, the coordinating ministry in the implementation of international treaties acknowledged the full commitment of CAMYOSFOP as the major stakeholder in mobilizing key government administrators in the ATT process CAMYOSFOP and MINREX have so far engaged members of parliament, civil society organisations and journalists in Cameroon.

                Mr. NGALIM upholds that the ratification and implementation process will benefit Cameroon and other state parties of the Lake Chad Basin, (Chad, Niger, and Nigeria) that ratified the treaty already.