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Cameroon: Re-Constitution Should Be Modified to Address Changing Societal Needs
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The Post (Buea)
30 March 2008
Posted to the web 31 March 2008
Ndi Martin Fon Jr.
Permit me to react to an article published in your newspaper as captioned above. This article is an interview The Post granted Dr. Fonkam Azu'u, Deputy Secretary General of the National Assembly, in which he stated that "Section 63 of the Constitution gives the President of the Republic and Parliament the prerogative to initiate a constitutional amendment".
Article 63(1) of the Cameroon Constitution clearly states that, "Amendment to the Constitution may be proposed either by the President of the Republic or by Parliament". Article 63(2) went further to state: "Any proposed amendment made by a Member of Parliament shall be signed by at least one-third of the members of either House".
This is to say, Parliament has the powers only to propose a constitutional amendment and does not have the powers to amend any articles of the Constitution, since Article 18(3) has set-up the agenda of the National Assembly in Article 26 without any provision for the amendment of the Constitution.
Again, Article 63(4) of the Constitution has given powers to the President of the Republic to "... submit any bill to amend the Constitution to a referendum..." Whereas Article 26(1) has provided the bills and rules that shall be passed by Parliament in Article 26(2) a, b, c, d and e without any provision therein for the amendment of the Constitution.
Hence, Parliament can not legislate on a bill that is not within its jurisdiction as clearly stated in Article 26(2) which states: "The following shall be reserved to the legislative power"- a, b, c, d and e whereby no provision is provided thereon for any constitutional amendment.
Accordingly, any bill sent to Parliament by the President of the Republic for the amendment of the Constitution is illegal and anti- constitutional. Again, any bill presented to Parliament by a Member of Parliament, for the amendment of the Constitution should be regarded as a proposed draft, which can only be examined and adopted as the stand of Parliament to present, accordingly, to the President of the Republic to submit to a Referendum as of Article 63(4) and Article 63 (3) that has given power to the President of the Republic "to request a second reading."
Any act short of the above is illegal, for that the Parliament in its Agenda as of Article 18(3) has no power to amend the Constitution as of Article 26.Parliament can only amend a draft proposal of constitutional amendment in accordance with Article 63(2) and send to the President of the Republic to act in accordance with Article 63(4) to a Referendum.
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Or the President of the Republic can use article 36(a) to amend the Constitution by means of a Referendum.
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