Cameroon Bar Association is waxing strong

Sama Francis Asanga, Bar President

By Ncheke Morine in Yaounde

The president of the Cameroon Bar Council has said that the club of learned men and women is doing very fine. Batonier Sama Francis Asanga made the remark on the sidelines of the entrance examination into the Cameroon Bar Association that kicked-off on Saturday 22 February 2014 and will run until the 24 February 2014, at the campus of the University of Yaounde 1.
    Speaking to The Median at the examinations venue, the Batonier said all had been put in place to make sure the examinations are conducted in all transparency and fairness.


    He said 3400 candidates were duly registered for the Bar Part 1 exams, while 128 candidates registered for the Bar Part II.

 

 Sama Francis Asanga, Batonnier

    The Batonier’s remarks on Saturday only re-echoed his earlier remarks during a press conference he granted on 17 February 2014, at the Bar headquarters in Yaounde.
    Addressing a battery of journalists on the occasion, Sama Francis thanked the minister of justice, keeper of the seals for launching the Bar Exams. He said the pre-control and pre-verification of candidates’ files were done in all transparency and only candidates who fulfilled the requisite conditions were retained for the exams.
    But the Batonier also intimated that candidates who were sponsored by lawyers still owing their Bar dues were also allowed to sit the exams. He noted that entrance into the Bar is an open examination and not by concours (competitive exams) and so all candidates who scored above the cut-off mark (12 on 20) will be declared successful. “We give equal opportunity for all,” Sama said.
    While thanking those learned colleagues who complied with the Bar rules and paid all their dues, the Batonier at once frowned at others who went about tarnishing the image of the Bar in the press. He debunked a report in a local newspaper which said the Cameroon Bar was in turmoil. Sama Francis reiterated that all was well at the Cameroon Bar and noted that over 250 million FCFA had been collected as contributions from members.
    He stressed on the need for the Bar to remain a club of learned, dignified and honest people and not an arena open to all and sundry.
    Concluding, Batonier Sama said he made a solemn pledge to lawyers to cleanse and restore the lost image of the Bar association. He said he was already on course to achieving the feat. He cited the new, befitting Bar headquarters, the successful holding a credible, hitch-free and transparent entrance exams and the a National preparatory training seminar prior to the exams to keep postulating lawyers abreast of the content and syllabus of the examinations. Sama Francis said he has acquired a piece of land for the construction of a permanent structure for the Bar Headquarters.