Interview

Success of D’la GA Is Victory for Cameroon Lawyers

 – Ntumfor Nico Halle, former President Bar Gen. Assembly

Ntumfor Nico Halle

Senior Advocate of the Cameroon Bar, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, who served as president of the General Assembly (GA) of the lawyers’ association for four years, (January 2015 to 24 November 2018), has said that he used his stewardship to uplift the Bar and improve its image, apart from giving value-added to the Presidency of the Bar GA. Nico Halle at once noted that he could do better if the presidency of the GA had a budget to finance its activities. He regrets for not being able to organize a common dinner and/or gala for the lawyers, during their two-day EGA in Douala, on 24 November, which EGA saw the election of new members into the Bar Council, apart from the election of the President of the GA and the Bar Council, Bartonnier. Nico Halle made these and other remarks, during a telephone chat with The Median’s Editor, Ayukogem Steven Ojong, shortly after the Douala EGA. The EGA saw the election of Barrister Morfaw Evaristus as President of the Bar GA, and Barrister Charles Tchakounte Patie as President of the Bar Council (Bartonnier), apart from the 15 members of the Bar Council. The following are excerpts of the very revealing interview. Read on…

                ##Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, You have just come to the end of your mandate as the president of the General Assembly (GA) of the Cameroon Bar Association. You organized an elective General Assembly (EGA) of the Bar which many have hastened to describe as hugely successful. What are your immediate impressions?

                -I hasten to say my impressions are high, impressive and optimistic. I give all the glory to God almighty that I invoked to come in and cover these elections. I asked the lord to come and help me to mobilize the lawyers of the nation. And I must thank him because the mobilization was total; it was huge; unprecedented. I also take this opportunity to congratulate my learned colleagues of the Bar who marked their presence and even those who sent proxies. Cameroonian lawyers are a wonderful people and I am very proud to have been their servant for four years. I promised them that I will serve them with loyalty and truth and that at the end of my mandate I will present them a balance sheet of my stewardship, which I did. I thank them for their support. They were my masters and I their servant. Steve, I must acknowledge here that the EGA was ground-breaking. There were no incidents. There was harmony; everybody was so happy to have been part of the process to put in place a new team to take over the management of the Bar association. Yet, I must mention that for all through the four years I spent not one penny that came from the Bar coffers, not one Franc. For all the trips I made to Yaounde and throughout the country, most often with my driver, I spent no penny of the Bar’s money. If I have to put all the bills together– hotel, fuel, feeding, lodging etc, it would not be less than fifty million cfa francs. But it was my own way of sacrificing and giving back what the lord has given me. And I am very sure that my colleagues the lawyers are aware of the sacrifices I made to the extent that if I had asked for a second mandate I think I would have had no match especially considering the avalanche of calls that I have received asking me to stay on. Lawyers are a learned people: you cannot manipulate or encapsulate them. If you can manage lawyers successfully then you can manage any other group of persons. I had a wonderful and cordial relationship with all of my colleagues, even if there were a few cases of betrayal. But I consider these cases as occupational hazards that should happen in life. I want to particularly thank my predecessor, Barrister Tang Emmanuel who stood by me, unconditionally and unimpeachably.  I have also promised the same support to my successor, Barrister Morfaw Evaristus. I think that should be the spirit.

                ##Ntumfor, reports from Douala hold that the elections were very successful and transparent. What did you do to ensure transparency?

  -Dur     ing the elections that brought the outgoing Bartonnier, Jackson Ngnie Kamga and myself, to office, I noticed that there were numerous cases of fraud and all sorts of malpractices. So, I took a personal vow that this should not repeat itself when I will organize the next EGA. That was why when I convened the EGA for 24 November 2018 I told my colleagues that no fraud or electoral malpractices would be tolerated. I told them that as lawyers we must show the good example in terms of transparency and respect for the laws of our association. I said this believing that lawyers should be the ones to lead, while all others follow them. That was how I decided that we must institute and implement a one ballot system during our voting process. It is true that some colleagues were opposed to this, but I stood my grounds because I had to assume my responsibilities as the president of the Bar GA. So the one ballot system helped tremendously to check fraud. Then we were very strict with the validation of the proxies that some colleagues brought in. Because of this strictness many proxies were rejected and you could see them piled up there in the hall. So people did not have their way this time to vote three, four, five times like was the case before now. Then the transparent ballot boxes we used also prevented any stuffing of the boxes before and after the voting process. Also, i warned the members of the electoral committee that any of them that was seen or even suspected of campaigning or trying to collude with any candidate, would automatically be removed from the committee. I asked all the lawyers to be vigilant about this and to denounce any cases of suspected fraud or collusion. All these measures helped to block the fraudsters, some of whom could not conceal their frustration and embarrassment. I must say that I have been congratulated by a huge majority of lawyers for this transparency which has only helped to brighten the image of the Bar, apart from ensuring the legitimacy of those elected. I cannot count the number of calls that I have received congratulating me for the success of the EGA. You realize that when I took over as president of the GA, I pledged that I was going to sanitize the Bar. And that was why even before the EGA, I went round preaching morality, dignity and integrity to lawyers. I told my colleagues that a lawyer who has no morality, dignity and integrity is not fit to be called a lawyer. It is my hope that other institutions of the state can follow the good example of the Bar Association and also adopt the one ballot system in elections.

                ##Part of the success of the EGA was because Anglophone lawyers attended in huge numbers. One would have expected them to stay away given that the Bar did not show the expected solidarity with them during the difficult period they had with the government sometime ago. So what did you tell your Anglophone brothers and sisters to get them come in these huge numbers?

                -I did nothing special; I think that my credibility played the magic. My brothers know that I am a man of unimpeachable integrity and so they believe in me. But I must point out emphatically here that the Bar Association is not a political party neither is the Bar a pressure group. The Bar is a professional association. So why would members of a professional association refuse to attend the GA of their association? How can they bring change in their association if they stay away from its general meetings? So it was incumbent on the Anglophone lawyers just like their Francophone colleagues to come and be part of history. Yet, it should be stated that attending a GA is not mandatory; it is optional. Members attend out of their own volition. The choice to attend is personal and there are no sanctions for members who fail to attend. As the President of the GA my prerogative is to convene the GA. Whether members came or they did not come was not my pre-occupation. But I must admit that the EGA at Castel Hall, Douala, was ground-breaking and historic. The quality of the deliberations and especially the quality of members that came was impressive. Almost all the former Bartonniers and former GA Presidents were present: Yondo Black, Monthe, Ben Muna, Charles Tchungang, Eta Bisong Jr., Francis Sama, Hypolite Meli, Abunaw, Job, Tang Emmanuel and many more; just about all the prominent lawyers in the country were there. In fact, it was a high-profile event that we had at Castel Hall in Douala. I think the Anglophone lawyers only exercised their democratic right by attending the EGA. It is the role of the Bar to uphold democracy and the rule of law in society. And I think that it dawned on the Anglophone lawyers, and rightly so, that, by attending the EGA in their numbers they can step up their chances of finding a solution to the problems that they raised; problems which i must admit are national, institutional and constitutional in character. I cease this opportunity to thank the Anglophone lawyers and all the members of the Bar for coming.

                ##There was dancing and rejoicing in the hall following the proclamation of the result of the Bar Council Election. In your opinion, was the rejoicing in celebration of the victory of Charles Tchakounte Patie or in celebration of the ouster of Jackson Ngnie Kamga?

                --I think the lawyers were dancing not in celebration of victory for whosoever, but rather in celebration of victory for the Bar; victory for their noble profession. And this has been the spirit even at past EGAs. It had nothing to do with who was elected or who was not elected. I have always said that we should stand for strong institutions and not strong personalities. People should come and go, but institutions must remain. People shouldn’t think they must be the only ones to lead. We are about 4000 lawyers at the Bar, and each of these lawyers has a legitimate right to be the Bar President. And that was why I said to myself that I should not do more than one term. I trained to be lawyer and not to be president of the GA of lawyers. There is just no reason for anyone to try to eternalize themselves in office. Before the Bar GA, I have been in the CMF, in NOWEFU, in ONEL etc. And in all these institutions I made sure I left when the time was right. I am in other structures and I don’t plan to be there forever.

                ##Ntumfor, do you have the impression you have during your mandate given some value-added to the Bar Association and especially the position of president of the Bar GA? Recall that you said four years ago that you want to be remembered as the GA president who restored relevance to that office. Do you have the impression you achieved that goal you set for yourself?

                --Yes! I am convinced I did. Before now my colleagues thought that the position of president of the GA was just ceremonial. The question I ask is how can the presidency of the supreme organ of a structure be ceremonial? I never considered myself as such. It is for that reason I took upon myself to go around the country preaching morality, integrity, harmony and oneness in the Bar. I think I have made the office of president of the GA relevant, very relevant! I am not throwing flowers at myself. But from the feedback and acknowledgements I am getting, I have the unshakable impression I was a president who used his office to impact his colleagues. The praises are still coming from all directions. Many say I have left the Bar better and stronger than I met it. Maybe I should cease this opportunity to encourage my successor to also go out and serve. He should not fold his arms and watch the Bartonnier overrun the two organs of the Bar association, to wit, the GA and the Council. He should intervene wherever and whenever the need arises, and whenever it is in the supreme interest of the Bar Association. I have also made a recommendation to the GA to consider providing a budget for the GA president. It is true that members have not been paying their annual dues to the extent that the total debt due to the Bar owed by members is to the tune of over 1.5 billion. So, if this money can be redeemed there is no reason the GA should not have its own budget. I don’t think it speaks well for the Bar when the GA president goes out cap in hand begging for funds to organize an EGA. One of my regrets is that I could not treat participants at the EGA to a befitting dinner and/or a gala!  The EGA is the most important event of the Bar. And I don’t see why lawyers should be kept for two days and they cannot be treated to even a common meal just because of lack of funds. That is why I cease this opportunity to urge lawyers to pay their Bar dues. I must at once also exhort successive Bar Presidents to also ensure diligence, transparency and accountability in the management of these funds. As for the new Bartonnier, Charles Tchakounte Patie, I know him as a man of honour and integrity and I have no doubt he would ensure proper management of the funds put at his disposal.

                ##Ntumfor, why do you think lawyers don’t want to pay their bar dues? Is there no way way they can be coerced to pay?

                -I cannot know exactly why the lawyers are not paying their Bar dues. But some lawyers complain of poor, opaque and unaccountable management of the funds by successive Batonniers, while others say they don’t even know what the money is used for. As for mechanisms to coerce lawyers to pay their dues I don’t think there are any. If there was a provision like failing to pay your annual dues you lose your membership of the Bar or your membership is suspended, I think this might have played the trick. There could also be something like you don’t defend a client in court if you don’t show evidence of being a bona fide member of the bar. But until such provision(s) is included in the standing orders of the Bar, the Bar Council remains powerless in the face of members not paying their dues. You may want to know that each lawyer is supposed to pay 84.000 cfa as annual dues, while pupil lawyers pay 42.000 cfa. If all the lawyers paid their dues for the three years that we have been in office then you can do the arithmetic of how much would have been in the coffers. But as we speak the coffers are in the red.

                ## Ntumfor, can you describe in brief your relationship with the out-going Batonnier, Jackson Ngnie Kamga.

                -I think in many ways we are friends. We were friends before we were elected to office four years ago and I am convinced we are still friends as we leave office. As for our working relationship, I should say it was good and cordial. You may want to know that Batonnier Kamga sent me a request asking me to support his reelection bid. Even though I did not heed the request, I must state that if we hadn’t a good relationship he would not think of making that kind of request from me. I must also explain that if I refused to join his reelection campaign it was because as president of the GA I had to be neutral and to be seen as such. I did not want to influence the choice of who becomes the next Batonnier.

                ##Ntumfor, any last word to lawyers and to the in-coming executive of the Bar?

                -I think I should first thank you for spending your money and time just to make sure you get my views on the telephone. It shows the interest you have in the activities of the Bar Association and perhaps for my person. That said, my last word to my colleagues is that they should remain focused, bold and courageous especially in matters that have to do with their public life. They should stand by the truth; ensure that the rule of law is for all without discrimination; ensure love, justice, equity, transparency, accountability, patriotism, integrity, honour and respect for human rights. They should be peaceful and loyal to state institutions. Above all they should be God-fearing in all they do. I also cease this opportunity you have granted me to extend my very sincere thanks to all the men and women of the media for having stood by me all throughout my mandate. May the Lord bless you all of the press. I thank you once again for calling me.