Close to four years into the Anglophone crisis with non state armed groups determined to cave out the state of Ambazonia from the rest of Cameroon, judicial services have been at a halt in some Divisions in the North West Region of Cameroon.
This situation has frustrated the zeal of litigants in affected Divisions to see justice rendered to their cases.
According to Senator Kemende Henry of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), “Amba boys have successfully chased away the judiciary in some Divisions with constant attacks on people posted in these places to work in courts.
This has given room to the restoration forces to put in place what they call their own courts to settle matters in these communities in the most worst manner one can imagine”.
To a source speaking to Mimi Mefo Info on phone from Tobin, Bui Division – North West Region, “for over two years, nothing exist here as a court.The court premises is over grown with grasses. All the workers have run away to safer places.” To the informant, a similar atmosphere is obtained in hospitals and even police stations. Here, few workers are still present but often absent from their duty posts due to insecurity.
As insecurity paralyses the justice system in some Divisions in the North West region of Cameroon, Senator Kemende Henry takes what he calls “a disturbing issue” to the Senate. In a question and answer session, the lawyer by training questions Cameroon’s minister delegate in charge of justice on the continuous silence of the government on the issue. To him, the answer given by Minister Jean De Dieu Momo was not convincing and not action oriented to end the conflict for the courts and other activities to come back to normal.
“The judges, State counsels and all other workers in the judicial chain in unsecured Divisions have all settled in Bamenda with stamps and other legal documents in their rooms and bags.They receive calls from litigants, demand them to pay charges for hearings and at the end no real justice is done. This, they do in complicity with some lawyers. I think they are extorting money from poor people who want to see justice.” The Senator, Barrister Kemende Henry adds.
With the amba boys who have successfully chased away some important government’s institutions in some Divisions in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, political commentators have been questioning if the government still has control over the entire country as propagated by members of government.
Still in the domain of the judiciary, Senator Kemende has frowned at the high level of corruption.To him, the bedrock of this is bad governance that has been in place for close to four decades in Cameroon.
Mimi Mefo Info.
