Lawyer at the Cameroon Bar Fonka Tomnyuy makes friendly observations on the complaint of his colleague Me Ayang Lewis filed against President Paul Biya at the Fako High Court regarding the application of Article 66 of the Constitution.
Me Ayang Lewis Forchealah, a lawyer at the Cameroon and Rwanda Bar, is taking the Fako High Court against the Head of State in December 2025 for two reasons. On the one hand, the legal professional asks the court to order the President of the Republic, without fear or complacency, to fully apply Article 66 of the Constitution relating to the declaration of assets. He highlights this claim by accusing Head of State Paul Biya of having failed in his duty to respect and enforce this constitutional requirement for more than 30 years.
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Also, a law promulgated in 2006 on the declaration of assets created a commission for this purpose which has never been set up, just as the decree implementing the law has not been signed to date by the Head of State. But, the lawyer observes that since the entry into force of the Constitution and this law, the President of the Republic has “vehemently and with impunity decided to turn a blind eye” to this article, thus favoring corruption and the embezzlement of public funds in Cameroon.
On the other hand, the lawyer adds in his complaint the failure to convene the Higher Judicial Council for five years, the last convocation dating back to August 2020. This, for him, paralyzes the processing of assignments, appointments, promotions, removals, and disciplinary measures within the national judicial system.
As an illustration, he invokes the fact that many magistrates who have reached retirement age remain in office; cases against approximately 897 magistrates remain pending; the South-West Administrative Court has been paralyzed since the death of one of its judges in 2023 and the failure of the Council to replace him, among others. In view of the failure to convene the Higher Judicial Council for five years, the lawyer asks the Court to order the President of the Republic to convene this council without delay.
Having taken note of the complaint and the requests of his fellow lawyer, Me Fonka Tomnyuy Mofola notes shortcomings in both form and substance. On form, the lawyer examines the jurisdiction of the court seized, the capacity of the parties, as well as the method of bringing the matter before the court. According to him, the competent jurisdiction under the 1948 Civil Procedure Ordinance in Common Law is that of the defendant’s place of residence, that of the place where the cause of action arose, or that of the location of the subject of the dispute.
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However, the Fako High Court cannot meet the first criterion, as the President resides in Yaoundé. The Fako division cannot meet the other two criteria either. Regarding the capacity of the parties, Me Fonka maintains that his colleague, by filing a complaint against the President of the Republic instead of the President of the Higher Judicial Council, has brought the wrong person before the court. Regarding the method of referral, the lawyer notes an irregularity relating to the originating procedure. For him, the application must be introduced by “Originating Motion and not by Motion on Notice”.
On the merits of the complaint, the lawyer notes that his colleague’s claims are based not on facts as required by law, but on legal considerations. Furthermore, argument 13, which indicates that the implementing decree for Article 66 of the Constitution is still awaited, contradicts the main request to demand the application of this article to the Head of State. The plaintiff should therefore have requested the issuance of the decree beforehand. For these reasons and according to the lawyer, his colleague’s complaint is “unfounded, inadmissible, legally inconsistent”. He could not succeed before this court.
As a reminder, Article 66 of the constitutional law of January 18, 1996, stipulates that “the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, members of the government and equivalents, the president and members of the bureau of the National Assembly, the president and members of the bureau of the Senate, deputies, senators, any holder of an elective mandate, secretaries general of ministries and equivalents, directors of central administrations, general managers of public and semi-public enterprises, magistrates, personnel of administrations responsible for the assessment, collection and handling of public funds, any manager of credits and public property, are required to make a declaration of their assets and property at the beginning and end of their mandate or function”.
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