The Senate and the National Assembly of Cameroon have been convened for the June session scheduled to begin tomorrow June 20, 2013 at the National Assembly.
For the first time in the history of Cameroon, the upper and lower houses of parliament would be meeting tomorrow in the hemicycle of the National Assembly in line with provisions of the April 14, 2008 constitutional amendment. The session comes on the hills of bureau elections recently organized at the Senate. Traditionally, this session is reserved for the examination and adoption of bills submitted to the National Assembly by government ministers. Thus, the coming to stage of the Senate opens a new dawn in Cameroon’s parliament by fully implementing the concept of bicameralism. That is, a parliament made of the two houses: the Senate and the National Assembly. During this session and from now on, bills adopted by the National Assembly would be strictly checked and double checked by the Senate before moving up the ladder for promulgation into law by the President of the Republic. In prelude to tomorrow’s opening, the president of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji and his counterpart of the National Assembly, Hon Cavaye Yeguie Djibril compared notes last Thursday June 13, 2013. It goes without saying that, among issues dissected, both men certainly reviewed the new outlook of Cameroon’s parliament as well as the twists and turns of the double session which begins tomorrow. For want of space, the Senate’s first ever ordinary session will take place in the morning inside the hemicycle of the National Assembly. The brief ceremony will be marked by the speech of the president of the upper house. From all indication, his pronouncement will focus on an official welcome to the 100 members of the Senate, the duties of the house, its challenges and expectations of the public vis a vis the upper house of parliament. As it stands, senators would spend part, or all of this ordinary session at the National Assembly while waiting for the complete rehabilitation of the fifth floor of the Yaounde Conference Centre which would temporally host the institution. Insight sources reveal that as at now, the priority at the Yaounde Conference Centre is to properly set the stage for a successful organization of the next week’s international Head of State’s and Head of Government’s summit on maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea, scheduled for June 24-25, 2013 in Yaounde. Meantime, the opening session of the National Assembly’s second ordinary session for the 2013 legislative year scheduled for 4:30 pm tomorrow would be launched in the hemicyle of the house by Hon Cavaye. His speech would likely pan on the new dispensation of Cameroon’s parliament, the state of relations between the executive and legislative arms of the State plus, the ongoing fight against corruption in Cameroon. As well, Hon Cavaye is expected to make a statement on the upcoming legislative and municipal elections for which the Electoral College would be convened in a not too distant future by the President of the Republic. It should be noted that the June 2013 session of the National Assembly will be the last for the current legislature. While waiting for these elections, worthy of note is the fact that parliamentary recess at the National Assembly has been marked by several activities. From March till now, there has been a great of political activities culminating in the election of the President of the Senate, the putting in place of the complete bureau of the house as well as the creation of the various committees. Both ordinary sessions are expected to last 30 days.
