When MPs come to Yaounde to misbehave!.

As they were reminded by the Speaker of the National Assembly, The Rt. Hon Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, while closing the June session last week: "... As the nation's representatives, we were elected by the sovereign people to primarily pass good laws and check government’s oversight. These are the two main tasks we were elected to accomplish”.

The Speaker, in the presence of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, and members of his government, conceded without mincing words that: “I wish to strongly condemn...increasing cases of misbehaviour by Members of the National Assembly”.

He cited some of the tomfoolery of the ‘dishonourable’ members as the lack of camaraderie, individualism, tussle for position and double-crossing amongst other vices.

He expressed regrets that it was unbelievable to even think that the nation's representatives now pursue objectives that are incompatible with their very essence as lawmakers.

The Speaker explained that although MPs have legitimate personal ambitions, their personal aspirations should not jeopardise the serenity and proper functioning of a prestigious institution like the National Assembly.

It was just one of those innumerable times the Speaker had mustered the audacity to tell his ignominious peers the bitter truth.

During the March session last year, he was furious the debate session on the presentation of a bill regulating human health research in the country, the attendance was at the lowest ebb and the seating scheduled for 9:30 a.m started an hour late.

In opening the debate, the Speaker scolded his colleagues for boycotting the session. “They are not here...The other day, you were 38 in number. You are supposed to be at least 100 of you" in a parliament of 180 members.

“When you will go back to your constituencies and they ask you what was said at the National Assembly, you will be murmuring...and you won’t have what to say,” Hon Cavaye had mocked his peers.

He advised that: “Please come back, you were elected to come and sit here and not to loiter in Yaounde”.

Another case was during the November session of Parliament for the 2021 legislative year, when the Speaker lashed out at MPs for clapping through the 2022 Finance Bill, that was tabled by the government bench.

After noting that the Finance Bill was adopted at the level of the committee, without any amendment or rejection, the Speaker accused his colleagues of “not doing their work,” but staging scenes to show off to the electors.

Many of them do not attend sessions of allocate time to scrutinised bills because they are also businessmen and use their parliamentary privileges to lobby for contracts in Yaounde and hustle to be given preferential payment of their bills.

Such parliamentarians in chasing their egoistic interests have had to be humiliated, harassed and insulted in Ministries. There was the infamous case where in one of the Miniseries, a Minister's bodyguard blocked MPs who wanted to see him without booking an audience.

A fracas ensued as the guard violently pushed the parliamentarians away and reportedly seized a file from one of them and tore it. The Secretary General in the Ministry also insulted them while threatening to call the police to arrest them.

There is also the bizarre instance in 2008, when security officials are said to have handcuffed an MP, after seizing his passport.

The number of instances parliamentarians who brag of having immunity have been humiliated, disgraced, insulted and harassed in the country are countless. Most of that has been happening in Yaounde.

How they are treated in their constituencies is anybody's guess. In the North West and South West Regions, many of them have been classified as Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, or absentee parliamentarians.

As the June session has ended, many of those from the North West and South West Regions are not going back to their constituencies to explain what they did in Yaounde.

What would they even tell their constituents, when their boss, the Speaker, has told whoever cares to listen that they come to Yaounde to loiter around.

That is a red card he has offered the electorates to vote them out at the next poll due in less than three years. But does the electoral law permit the electorate to vomit the egocentric parliamentarians, most of who are in the ruling party?

The answer is far from positive. Speaker, Cavaye, has reported the recalcitrant, selfish and loitering Members of Parliament to the nation.

As law makers, which is one of their two responsibilities, they should go ahead and amend the electoral law to ensure free, fair, transparent, inclusive and credible polls before the current mandate ends.

At The Guardian Post, we go with the strong feeling that anything short of that, the electorate should, in the next parliamentary polls vote only for duty-conscious parliamentarians whose activities would be embellished with honour.

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Members of Parliament, MPs, are traditionally addressed as "Honourable". They are even given immunity and in the case of Cameroon, as representatives of the electorates, they are assigned two responsibilities.

As they were reminded by the Speaker of the National Assembly, The Rt. Hon Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, while closing the June session last week: "... As the nation's representatives, we were elected by the sovereign people to primarily pass good laws and check government’s oversight. These are the two main tasks we were elected to accomplish”.

The Speaker, in the presence of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, and members of his government, conceded without mincing words that: “I wish to strongly condemn...increasing cases of misbehaviour by Members of the National Assembly”.

He cited some of the tomfoolery of the ‘dishonourable’ members as the lack of camaraderie, individualism, tussle for position and double-crossing amongst other vices.

He expressed regrets that it was unbelievable to even think that the nation's representatives now pursue objectives that are incompatible with their very essence as lawmakers.

The Speaker explained that although MPs have legitimate personal ambitions, their personal aspirations should not jeopardise the serenity and proper functioning of a prestigious institution like the National Assembly.

It was just one of those innumerable times the Speaker had mustered the audacity to tell his ignominious peers the bitter truth.

During the March session last year, he was furious the debate session on the presentation of a bill regulating human health research in the country, the attendance was at the lowest ebb and the seating scheduled for 9:30 a.m started an hour late.

In opening the debate, the Speaker scolded his colleagues for boycotting the session. “They are not here...The other day, you were 38 in number. You are supposed to be at least 100 of you" in a parliament of 180 members.

“When you will go back to your constituencies and they ask you what was said at the National Assembly, you will be murmuring...and you won’t have what to say,” Hon Cavaye had mocked his peers.

He advised that: “Please come back, you were elected to come and sit here and not to loiter in Yaounde”.

Another case was during the November session of Parliament for the 2021 legislative year, when the Speaker lashed out at MPs for clapping through the 2022 Finance Bill, that was tabled by the government bench.

After noting that the Finance Bill was adopted at the level of the committee, without any amendment or rejection, the Speaker accused his colleagues of “not doing their work,” but staging scenes to show off to the electors.

Many of them do not attend sessions of allocate time to scrutinised bills because they are also businessmen and use their parliamentary privileges to lobby for contracts in Yaounde and hustle to be given preferential payment of their bills.

Such parliamentarians in chasing their egoistic interests have had to be humiliated, harassed and insulted in Ministries. There was the infamous case where in one of the Miniseries, a Minister's bodyguard blocked MPs who wanted to see him without booking an audience.

A fracas ensued as the guard violently pushed the parliamentarians away and reportedly seized a file from one of them and tore it. The Secretary General in the Ministry also insulted them while threatening to call the police to arrest them.

There is also the bizarre instance in 2008, when security officials are said to have handcuffed an MP, after seizing his passport.

The number of instances parliamentarians who brag of having immunity have been humiliated, disgraced, insulted and harassed in the country are countless. Most of that has been happening in Yaounde.

How they are treated in their constituencies is anybody's guess. In the North West and South West Regions, many of them have been classified as Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, or absentee parliamentarians.

As the June session has ended, many of those from the North West and South West Regions are not going back to their constituencies to explain what they did in Yaounde.

What would they even tell their constituents, when their boss, the Speaker, has told whoever cares to listen that they come to Yaounde to loiter around.

That is a red card he has offered the electorates to vote them out at the next poll due in less than three years. But does the electoral law permit the electorate to vomit the egocentric parliamentarians, most of who are in the ruling party?

The answer is far from positive. Speaker, Cavaye, has reported the recalcitrant, selfish and loitering Members of Parliament to the nation.

As law makers, which is one of their two responsibilities, they should go ahead and amend the electoral law to ensure free, fair, transparent, inclusive and credible polls before the current mandate ends.

At The Guardian Post, we go with the strong feeling that anything short of that, the electorate should, in the next parliamentary polls vote only for duty-conscious parliamentarians whose activities would be embellished with honour.