Encouraging Performance

 
This Tuesday February 7, 2023 makes exactly five years since the President of the Republic, Paul Biya appointed the members of the Constitutional Council on February 7, 2018. The appointment that was shortly followed by the swearing-in of the members has since then put the Constitutional Council in the limelight of Cameroon's political landscape. The Constitutional Council, one of the institutions enshrined in the 18 January 1996 law to amend the Constitution of 2 June 1972 has jurisdiction in matters pertaining to the Constitution. It rules on the constitutionality of laws, treaties and international agreements, Standing Orders of the National Assembly and Senate, among others.
The above-mentioned missions of the Constitutional Council globally make the institution absurd in the minds of many Cameroonians. However, Section 48 of the 1996 Constitution which states that, “The Constitutional Council shall ensure the regularity of presidential elections, parliamentary elections and referendum operations,” has positioned the institution at the centre of the electoral operations in the elections in which it has jurisdiction. The Constitutional Council does not only rule on pre and post-elections petitions but more importantly proclaims the results of the elections concerned and its rulings are final.
The March 12, 2023 Senatorial election during which Senators of the third legislative period of the Upper House of Parliament will be elected is yet another occasion for the Constitutional Council to further consolidate its position in the country’s political landscape and improve on its already encouraging performance. This is because shortly after the effective putting in place of the Constitutional Council, it had the first baptism of fire as it ruled on pre and post electoral petitions of the March 25, 2018 election of Senators and proclaimed its final results.
The Constitutional Council had its second test of performance in the October 7, 2018 presidential election. The post-electoral public hearing on petitions filed by candidate of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), Professor Maurice Kamto and that of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), Hon. Joshua Osih dragged on for long. The Council proved its resilience and the stoicism of its mem...