Bulletin n. 3/2009
January 2010
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
  • Yanou Mike A.
    The local courts, decentralisation and good governance: the case of the English speaking provinces of Cameroon
    in International Journal of Human Rights (The) , Volume 13, Issue 5, December ,  2009 ,  689-696
    This paper examines governance in Cameroon and does so in the context of the attempt by the Francophone dominated central government to curtail the common law system which the two minority English speaking provinces inherited from Britain. It is observed that although the country's constitution made provisions for decentralized structures of governance at local levels since 1996, the continued non-implementation of these provisions has made it impossible for local peoples to be effectively involved in the management of their own affairs. The article also reviews the Cameroonian idea of devolution of powers to local tiers of administration but queries it for being incapable of leading to accountability by administrators and good governance. Citing section 40 of the constitution which vests powers of judicial review of the acts of state officials in the Supreme Court which sits only in Yaound, the paper argues that this cannot lead to a climate of good governance. The author concludes that the existence of nationwide local courts with powers of acting as a restraint to executive powers is imperative for the emergence of constitutionalism in Cameroon.
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