ABSTRACT

Cameroon’s parliament is constitutionally mandated to perform multiple functions, including the power to make laws. Like most legislatures, parliament is also empowered to perform familiar representative functions during the unfamiliar abnormal context of a crisis. However, parliament’s competence in the legislative domain is severely restricted by the President, who is neither accountable to the Prime Minister nor the legislature. The executive further dominates the legislative agenda by controlling the admissibility criteria of bills in parliament, which gives pride of place to that introduced by the President. Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government, in line with WHO recommendations, developed a response plan and also rolled out a solidarity fund of One billion francs CFA. Following persistent allegations of mismanagement of Covid-19 funds, and the leaking of an audit report that alleged massive embezzlement of public funds, Cameroon’s parliament summoned the Minister of Finance to account for the financial misappropriations. However, 24 hours to the session dedicated for this exercise, the item disappeared from the agenda. This paper utilises primary and secondary data, legal and judicial texts, among others, to document how Cameroon’s parliament has responded to the multiple crises that have impacted the country over the past decades.

摘要

喀麦隆议会在宪法上受权履行多项职能，包括制定法律的权力。与大多数立法机构一样，议会也有权在不熟悉的异常危机背景下履行熟悉的代表职能。然而，议会在立法领域的权限受到总统的严格限制，总统既不对总理负责，也不对立法机关负责。行政部门通过控制议会法案的可接受性标准进一步主导立法议程，这让总统提出的法案占据了重要地位。在 Covid-19 大流行爆发后，政府根据世卫组织的建议制定了应对计划，并推出了 10 亿法郎 CFA 的团结基金。在对 Covid-19 资金管理不善的持续指控以及涉嫌大规模挪用公共资金的审计报告泄露之后，喀麦隆议会召集财政部长对财务挪用行为负责。然而，在专门为此练习的会议的 24 小时后，该项目从议程中消失了。本文利用一手和二手数据、法律和司法文本等来记录喀麦隆议会如何应对过去几十年影响该国的多重危机。该项目从议程上消失了。本文利用一手和二手数据、法律和司法文本等来记录喀麦隆议会如何应对过去几十年影响该国的多重危机。该项目从议程上消失了。本文利用一手和二手数据、法律和司法文本等来记录喀麦隆议会如何应对过去几十年影响该国的多重危机。