The National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms held its fifth ordinary session yesterday in Yaounde.

«The amendment of the constitution is a normal exercise. In general terms, I think that the current debate on the constitutional amendment in Cameroon ought to have been focused on its programming and on content". The Chairman of Cameroon's National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Dr Divine Chemuta Banda said in Yaounde, yesterday, 02 April, while delivering his keynote address on the occasion of the Commission's fifth ordinary session. On the debate on whether or not to limit the mandate of the President, Dr Banda said, "I am of the opinion that the systems of limiting or not of the terms of office of the Heads of State or governments, is a double option in the same democratic game" and added, " non of the options is fundamentally good or bad. In the final analysis, it is the right of the people to freely choose the option they want".

Dr Banda used the opening ceremony of the session to state the involvement of the Commission members at different levels and degrees in topical events in the human rights domain in Cameroon since their fourth ordinary session in October 2007 and the extraordinary session in January 2008. He cited the debate on constitutional revision, banning of street public manifestations in the Littoral Province, the foiled coup attempt in Chad with thousands of displaced persons crossing to Kousseri, rise in the prices of petroleum products and other goods of basic necessity, violent strikes that rocked Cameroon in late February and Head of State's measures to improve the living conditions of Cameroonians.

The Commission through its Chairman, said the hikes in fuel prices significantly affects other products in the economic systems of the country. They therefore, advised that adequate attention be paid on policies related to fixing prices of petroleum products. Acknowledging that solutions to fuel prices hikes cannot come overnight, Dr Banda said, all actors in the sector must work in a resolute manner for better results following a reasonable programme. He condemned the recent violent demonstrations in the country as counter productive in the promotion of protection of human rights. As a solution, he said, efforts must be heightened to educate all interested parties in public manifestations on the programming and management of such manifestations to preserve security of people and their property. Consequently, inertia and impunity, key causes of the violent manifestations, must be fought through dialogue, good governance, and adopting satisfactory solutions to emerging problems in different circumstances.

The Human Rights Commission members were also briefed on efforts at maintaining good partnerships, contributions to Elections Cameroon and level of progress towards acquiring the Commission's permanent residence. They used the session to adopt reports of 2007 activities, elect Chairpersons and rapporteurs of the Sub-commissions and fine-tune 2008 activities.