This reflection is inspired by the fact that just like CNN, the world’s leading simultaneous broadcaster, which holds that the only way to predict the future is to create it, Ntumfor is effectively predicting the future by deciding to relinquish the position of General Assembly President of the Association so as to step up his commitment to peace crusading and conflict resolution.
It is the more informed by the fact that despite the challenges faced by his leadership in the last three years no thanks to the lawyers’ strike and the escalating Anglophone crisis, the upcoming November 24, 2018, Bar Council elections would be a marked departure from past ones as innovative electioneering would be introduced with transparency as destination.
It is also inspired by the fact that although we live in a society where clinging to power, even at njangi or church level is the role rather than the exception, the upcoming Bar elections where incumbent General Assembly President had long indicated his intention not to seek reelection even when the constitution allows, it would be a unique opportunity to celebrate the fact that what seems insignificant can lead to great revolutionary outcomes.
By the close of the elective Yaoundé General Assembly meeting that saw the coming into office of Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle and Ngnie Kamga some three to four years ago, it was generally agreed that the next elective General Assembly would take place in Buea, Southwest region. What could not be foreseen at the time was the fact that the region would be plunged into conflict with the active resurfacing of the Anglophone identity crisis. That is how the elective General Assembly suffered series of postponements as each time consultations were made for a possible election, stake holders discouraged it on grounds the Southwest was not safe for lawyers to stage an event of that magnitude.
Conscious of the fact that the health of the nation depended on the respect of institutions not persons, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle had to put in the extra hour and the extra energy to convince his peers that something had to be done to ensure continuity and the credibility of that institution, the Bar Council. The something that was to be done urgently was the shift of venue from Buea to neighboring Douala. Once the idea gained momentum and consensus, Ntumfor quickly set up an organizing committee that since worked tirelessly to see to it that he lives the Bar better than he met it.
One of the most precious things that the Ntumfor Nico Halle team would bequeath to the Bar as legacy would be a credible electoral system. If everything goes as planned, the Bar Council elections would be groundbreaking as not only transparent boxes would be used but also a single ballot voting system. Although it might seem insignificant at first, it has the potential of significant revolutionary changes at a national level at future elections in Cameroon. What with the fact that the Bar Council is a grounded national structure with a potential to influence change in Cameroon given the timbre and caliber of men and women that populate it.
Just the fact that members are convinced that the electoral process would be free, fair, credible and transparent given Ntumfor’s track record at election organization at local, national and international levels, many persons who would have refused to stand elections have declared their intentions. That is why the secretariat can already and unprecedentedly, be counting upwards of 40 files.
The bar and national life
Whatever criticisms and shortcomings that could be levied against the Bar, it must be noted that where providentially or by accident; it was during Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle’s tenure of office as General Assembly President that the public discord very fine side of lawyers. Before 2016, many a Cameroonian saw in a lawyer only someone who would poke his nose into any little misunderstanding and declare that it’s a nice case to be taken to court. Most lawyers were being mockingly referred to as ‘charge and bail ‘ in reference to a Nigerian movie. When Common Law lawyers in 2016 went to the streets, not to demand for better working conditions but that the promissory note signed between Southern Cameroons and La Republique be respected so that every single Cameroon feels part of the Fatherland, many saw in lawyers real agents of social change.
Rather distance self from his colleagues, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle took on the two-track diplomacy. As his colleague were on the streets in Buea and Bamenda, he was in offices in Yaoundé making the point, shortly but technically. Shuttling between the Prime Ministry and that of Justice, he spoke truth to power in a manner that the points raised by Common Law lawyers could no longer be ignored. In the process, the OHADA Uniform Act was hurriedly translated into English, a Common Bench was created at the Supreme Court, and another Common Law Department created at ENAM, amongst others. Although much is still left to be done to address the lawyers’ demands, it cannot be ignored that the journey of a thousand miles has started.
Ntumfor’spersonal touch
Maybe not as Bar Association General Assembly President but as Nico Halle, he has been personally involved in seeking a peaceful resolution to the current Anglophone crisis that escalates by day. He has made countless trips to the restive Northwest and South West Regions. He has met with all classes of people in Bamenda, Mamfe and Buea. Using his hard earned resources, he has preached peace and reconciliation in and out of season. He has dared the bullets unlike others who preach peace from the cozy confines of their Yaoundé offices or only go out to the region when they are assured of layers and layers of security.
In the process, Ntumfor had met it abundantly clear that there can be no peace without justice and equity. He has repeatedly called on the powers that be, as well as proposing to the Head of State that for there to be a rapid end to this crisis, government must set up a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. Government must also decree general amnesty to all those who have been involved in one way or the other in this crisis. Government must also release those arrested and detained in connection to the crisis. He also holds that the crisis continue to escalate on a daily basis because some elite and other well placed authorities in Yaoundé are benefiting from it. Many are not telling the Head of State the truth.
What becomes of Ntumfor after November 24?
Would he just remain a lay preacher as he has been over the years? And international human rights defender as has done for the past 20 years? A community developer as obtained when he was Ndong Awing Cultural and Development President? A savior of the crown as he started doing by unifying Northwest Fons before other ‘unifiers came in and divided them? Will he go back to be CMF President when he clearly indicated that he did not want to internalize himself in power when people wanted the contrary? Would he set up an elections management training institute to start transferring the knowledge he garnered during his elections observation years at home and abroad? Would he intensify his alternative dispute resolution approach where he has over the years used it to reconcile families, individuals, professional journalist associations, lawyers, politicians and business concerns?
My take
Although Eleanor Resovelt believes that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams, I suggest that as soon as Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle hands over as Bar Association General Assembly President after November 24, 2018, he should immediately step-up his commitment to peace crusading and conflict resolution. The times are not only challenging but men and women of mettle are needed more than ever in our society to step the building of bridges of love, tolerance and peace not walls of hatred, intolerance and destruction. It’s a daunting enterprise and needs no distraction. Ntumfor would be up to the task given that he has been doing just that in the last 20 years.
He only needs to upgrade the commitment after November 24
The Muteff Boy’s Take