The incumbent president of the Cameroon Bar Council Barrister Charles Tchoungang yesterday backed out of the race to retain the position before voting was over.The highly contested voting took place in Yaounde amidst steep competition. Barrister Charles Tchoungang launched his final campaigns in Limbe on 5 November, and accused Barrister Eta Besong Jr., his chief challenger of double standards, claiming that Eta Besong was part of the major decisions he took. Charles Tchoungang regretted that, after the decisions Eta Besong went out and campaigned against them.
Eta Besong and Barrister Massot Marthe led the fight against the admission of Herve Nkom who they held was not a certified lawyer, even in France where he claimed to be a member of the French Bar. Barrister Innocent Bonu, Tchoungang's S W., representative, said that during the current Bar Council's tenure of office, many lawyers were admitted so the one troublesome case should not be viewed in bad faith.
Claims by Tchoungang that the Bar had bought a piece of land in Yaoundé for the party headquarters was also debunked by Eta Besong as a campaign gimmick , in spite the publication of a piece of recently leveled land. Eta Besong said every attempt to get Tchungang, provide the Deed of Conveyance or a land title during a council meeting had failed.
Tchoungang claimed a host of international jurist seminars as achievements during his tem of office, but Eta Besong claimed that they only materialized during his term of office , and even then Tchoungang had failed to provide logistics on how the money was utilized, and vowed to audit the accounts of the incumbent if elected as the next Bar Council president, if elected as the Bar Council president.
Eta Besong regretted that during the Tchungang 30 months in office only 6 Bar Council meetings had been convened and even then, procedure was ignored, because there were no summonses as provided by the law, only close friends were summoned over the phone, to ensure the attainment of a forum in order to legitimize Tchoungang' dictates.
At the peak of the electoral battle, Tchoungang backed the candidatures of Barristers of Joseph Njualem and Fonkeng, and it was widely rumored in the Tchungang camp that they were intended to flush out Barrister Eta Besong even from the next Bar Council , a situation which Eta Besong supporters held was an impossibility.
Following the defeat of Barrister Asongwe at the presidency of the Cameroon Bar General Assembly on 8 November, the Tchoungang Dream Team read the writings on the wall, because according to Eta Besong chief aide, Barrister Obi Arrey, the standing rules of the house were clear. The presidency of the house and the Council president could not be occupied exclusively by Franco phones or Anglophones.
Thus with the victory of Barrister T. Meli of Eta Besong's Team for change, the of Tchungang was sealed. While he retreated under ground, his faithfuls of late, Njualem and Fonkeng crossed carpets to Eta Besong's Team. It will be recalled that when Meli campaigned alongside Eta Besong in Limbe last week he said Eta Besong's victory had to begin with his , in order that he should create 10 polling offices to check fraud
. According to Bonu "I have withdrawn but I want the General Assembly of the Bar to grow because it is a place that we all loved and wish well." Bonu is quoted as saying that "I am not a boxer but a trained lawyer, I don't fight when it comes to legal matters."
Speaking to Barrister Eta Bessong on the withdrawal of the members of the Rainbow Coalition, he said the elections were transparent and that it is because his camp had won the General Assembly presidency and Vice by la landslide victory that is why Tchoungang Bonu and co had to withdraw from the race knowing that there was nothing they could do to win the Bar council Presidency.
Other sources at the Palais de Congres in Yaounde equally told Eden that there were a lot of irregularities in the electoral process and the management of the elections and that is why Tchoungang lost and all members of his team withdrew even before the elections of the members of the bar council.
Meanwhile, other lawyers believe that since a Francophone has been elected president of the general assembly the Battonier would definitely be an Anglophone and the only Anglophone that has positive stand in the race is Barrister Eta Besong
To this group of lawyers, this may not sound so well in the ears of the Rainbow Team hence their eventual withdrawal. Views: 210 | Tell a Friend
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