Felix Teche Nyamusa
SDF 2018 presidential
hopeful (pending primaries)
Tel: 674684412
Email:tecny66@yahoo.com
19/10/2015
The SDF National
Executive
Committee (NEC) courtesy
His Excellency Ni John
Fru Ndi
SDF National Chairman
Sir,
Proposal for amendment of the SDF constitution
 |
| Felix Teche Nyamusa |
Please
officially let NEC deliberate on these proposals for the amendment of the laws
(constitution and internal regulations) of our party which if embraced will
highly strengthen the organization : Militant(s) standing at elections for the
position of national chair and secretary general of the party should not again
cumulatively stand for national elections for the positions already made which
are incompatible
by virtue of section 13.1 (d) of the party current constitution – the office of
the president of the Republic, vice president, president of the National
Assembly, Prime Minister and/or any other governmental function .
There should also be
amendment of section 13.3b of the current constitution which provide as,
follows: 13.3b – the Secretary General and his/her deputies shall, after due
consultation, be appointed by the National Chairperson. The amendment proposal
here is: the Secretary General and his/her deputies should be elective as
contained in the constitution before the Bamenda convention of 26 – 28 May,
2006 (Bamenda conv. 26 – 28. 5, 2006) This amendment removes the danger of the
secretary general being likened to a private secretary and its consequent
incongruity.
Permit
me, dear leaders, recall the powers and functions, per our current
constitution, of the national chair and secretary general for immediate
appreciation of the rationale of the proposed amendments:-
Section 13: Powers and
functions of officers
13.1 The National
Chairperson shall be the chief Executive officer and in this capacity he/she
shall:
I) Convene and preside over the meetings of the
convention, the National Executive Committee, the National Advisory Council and
the Cabinet meetings of the shadow government;
II) Be the principal authorizing officer and
shall authorize and/or approve all expenditure and/or disbursements of party
funds;
III) Oversee on a day- to-day basis, the working of
the party and the proper functioning of all the organs of the party at all the
levels;
IV) Appoint, after due consultation, officials of
the parliamentary and senatorial groups, designate parliamentarians for posts
in the Bureau of the senate, the National Assemble and Regional councils
V) Represent the party at public ceremonies, before
third parties and sign all correspondences destined to third parties.
VI) The National Chairperson may delegate the
exercise of any of his/her functions to a National vice Chairperson and /or to
any other official of the party.
b) The National
Chairperson shall serve full time and shall receive such remuneration as shall
be determined by the National convention
c) In the conduct and
management of the affairs and procedures of the party, particularly as they
apply to the preparation and conduct of the presidential nomination, the
national chairperson shall exercise impartiality and shall ensure that officers
and staff of the National Executive Committee maintain impartiality during
party presidential nomination;
d) The post of the
National chairperson of the party shall be incompatible with the office of
President of the Republic, vice President of the National Assembly, Prime
Minister and/or any other governmental function.
13.2: The National vice
chairpersons
a) A National vice chair
person shall, in the absence of the National Chairperson preside at meetings;
b) The National vice
Chairpersons shall perform all such duties as shall be delegated to them by the
National executive committee and/or the national Chairperson
c) The provisions of section
13.1(d) above shall apply to the post of National vice Chairperson.
13.3: The Secretary
General
a) The General
secretariat of the party shall be headed by a secretary General, Assisted by
three Deputy Secretary General, at least one of whom shall be of the opposite
sex.
b) The secretary general
and his/her deputies shall, after due consultation, be appointed by the
National Chairman
c) The secretary general
assisted by the deputy secretaries general, in addition to the specific
functions conferred on them by the internal rules and regulations and / or any
other enabling instrument shall:
(I) Take or cause to be
taken and keep proper books provided for the purpose, the minutes of the
meetings of the National convention, the National Executive committee , the
national advisory council, the Audit and oversight committee and the cabinet
meetings of the shadow government;
II) Conduct or cause to
be conducted such correspondence as may be required from time to time; provided
that all correspondence destined to third parties shall be signed by the
National chairperson or such official as shall be delegated by the latter;
III) Prepare or caused
to be prepared subject to the approval of the national chairperson, the order
of business of meetings of all national organs of the party;
IV) Supervise and
control the activities of the national secretariat and recommend for
appointment of officials and the recruitment of staff of the national
secretariat by the national chairperson;
V) Ensure that no person
except members of the various organs as provided by this constitution attend
their respective meetings and that only members of the several delegations and
officers of the convention shall be admitted to the section of the convention
hall restricted to delegates;
VI) Carry out all other
functions as shall be assigned by the national executive committee and / or the
national chairperson and report to them.
VII) The provisions of
section 13.1(d) above shall apply to the post of the national secretary general
13.4 The national Deputy
Secretaries general
The national deputy
secretaries general shall perform the duties of the secretary general in
his/her absence or as may be assigned to them by him/ her.
Further
amendment – section 13.1 (IV).The current one reads thus “The national
chairperson appoint, after due consultation, officials of the parliamentary and
senatorial groups, designate parliamentarians for posts in the bureau of the
senate, the national assembly and regional council”. The proposed amendment is
“Appointments made after due consultation” is not enough! We wish that such
appointment bevetted by the National executive committee so as to increase
the chance of ripe judgment of the appointee – It makes sense to avoid
situations where the chair due to human frailty may be inclined to erroneously
and solo choose confidants who may in future betray him/her, the party and
Cameroonians in general. (A case to say the least has been registered where an
SDF shadow minister resigns from SDF because the spouse is appointed minister
in the CPDM corrupt regime). Thus, esteemed executive members, if embraced, the
amended 13.1 (IV) should read: the national chairperson appoint, after due
consultation and vetting by the national executive committee,official
of the parliamentary and senatorial groups, designate parliamentarians for
posts in the bureau of the senate, the national assembly and regional councils.
Further
more suggestions for the amendments of our party constitution have been
catalogued by many a party militant and sympathizer particularly those by
former secretaries general – they ought to be looked into as well.
The
party had from inception; it is worth mentioning, creditably stated in her
constitution the incompatibility of some positions in the party and those of
the entire Republic of Cameroon. Thus the party will be limiting and doing a
disservice to her goals should she continue permitting incumbents (of no fault
of theirs)who use party constitutional prescriptions and finances to lead up to
the day of party primaries. While their adversaries are there
holders of other party executive positions or ordinary militants are not as
exposed officially to the electorate on party matters as the incumbent national
chair or secretaries. More so the incumbents are not necessarily the best
candidates for the entire Republic positions. Hence without barring incumbents
from their priority desires, all militants (including party incumbents) should
only choose one position each they wish to occupy – in this case either
national chair (and their deputies), national secretary general (and their
deputies) of the party or candidates for the office of President of the
Republic, vice President, President of the national assembly, Prime minister
and/or any other governmental function. The post of national
chairperson of SDF and office of President of the Republic, say, are two
important and exacting positions. Towards elections and other high party
profile functions the presidential candidate will in addition to the chair and
other active forces of the party add more pressure to bear particularly on the
one man dictatorial rule of the CPDM regime. Neighboring Nigeria, South Africa,
USA, Britain and other democracies the world over who regularly have smooth
succession design their party chairpersons to act the important stabilizing
impartial rule for electoral victory of their respective parties. In contesting
for the supreme post (party chair) of their individual parties, they are aware
of their constitutions which forbid them from again running for other positions
like those of President of the republic, senate …For a break through, we (SDF)
have to see that the pro-CPDM ELECAM passing for Cameroon’s elections managing
body be scrapped and the archaic constitution of Cameroon overhauled to ensure
separation of powers before the 2018 polls. The SDF must maximize her chances
to ensure democratic succession after over 25 years of waiting in the cold with
Cameroonians going through hell of insecurity, poverty, electoral fraud, mal
governance upheavals. When the maxims of democracy are exploited first
internally within SDF, our following will soar and bring positive change in
Cameroon as obtained in other countries. Because of the unpredictability of the
CPDM who can also precipitate polls in order to gain any advantage for their
continuous stay in power, we strongly think an urgent extra ordinary convention
of the party be scheduled to strengthen our party structure courtesy
these constitutional amendments and other fortifications!
May
God guide NEC, SDF and Cameroonians in general!
NB:
(SDF being a public
party and Cameroonians’ last hope for development and progress, this suggestion
for, amendment of the constitution, is made open to the public so that everyone
is witness and part of our country’s travails).
Felix
Teche Nyamusa
SDF
2018 presidential hopeful (pending primaries)