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| Hon Ayah |
HRH, Hon Lord
Justice Ayah Paul Abine is one of the eldest among the Southern Cameroonian
detainees, in Yaoundé Prisons. He is currently being detained at the
Secretariat of State at the Ministry of Defense in Charge of the National
Gendarmerie, better known by its French acronym SED (Secretariat d’Etat au
Ministere de la Defence, en charge de la Gendarmerie,) since January 21, 2017
when he was picked up at his residence in Yaoundé, without any arrest warrant.
No Charge after Six Months
Curiously, since the
arrest of this judge and despite his age (67) he is being detained, according
to his family, under life threatening conditions, and has not been charged as
at the day of publishing this report. There have been several reports about the
possibility of Hon Ayah losing his sight amid his continuous frail health
situation. He was in June 2017 falsely rumoured
dead! Yaoundé authorities have remained deaf over calls for his release.
The reasons for his
arrest remain a mystery although it is suspected that he is being detained because
he is a senior Southern Cameroons elite and for his request for a return to a ten
state federation following his party’s constitution though
he often said his personal opinion is the will of the people. It is suspected that with apparently no
charge against Hon Ayah, the military Tribunal, land him similar accusations like
the other detainees, notably, hostility against the nation among others.
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| Family Complained about his Health |
Hon Ayah had never
hidden his thoughts. To him, the union between the then East and West Cameroon
was not working. The super scale Judge had argued that on point of law there
was and there is no legal binding document keeping the two countries together.
He
too was of the opinion that if there is no possibility of a return to a federal
state, Southern Cameroons has the right and should be allowed to go its
separate way. He wrote and granted
interviews, expressing his views as politely and humbly as he could. He never
was violent and never supported same.
There is no wonder that Hon Ayah Paul on July
27th 2017 took the Government of Cameroon to the United Nations and accused them
for kidnap, illegal arrest, demanding huge compensation.
Enriching Legal Career
At the time of his arrest he was deputy Attorney General at Cameroon’s Supreme
Court in Yaoundé. With a 24 year career
in the judiciary, Hon Paul Ayah Abine is one
of the longest serving members of the judicial arm of government, the lone Southern Cameroonian who has attained that rank in the
country’s judiciary. He has been Chief Magistrate, Presiding and legal officer,
District Deputy Attorney, Head of High Courts in different regions of Cameroon.
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| Ayah Taking Oath, President Biya (behind) Looks on (1978) |
In what can be considered as attempts at silencing Hon Ayah Paul, he was, while
in detention, sent on retirement in June 2017, although there are other judges
older than him who are still in office. Sending him on retirement while in
detention is another indication that the Cameroon government is certainly bent
on crushing him and his beliefs.
Political Engagement
With Hrh Hon Lord Justice
Ayah Paul Abine’s seriousness in addressing developmental problems affecting his
native Akwaya native community in Manyu Division in the South West Region of
Cameroon, he was voted Member of Parliament of the ruling Cameroon Peoples’
Democratic Movement, CPDM, from 2002 to 2013 and was Chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the National Assembly between 2002 – 2008.
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| Ayah, The Honourable |
A soft spoken but very frank Hon Ayah,
resigned from the ruling party in 2010. He was earlier on, the lone CPDM Parliamentarian
who opposed the 2008 bill to modify Cameroon’s 18 January 1996 Constitution to unlimited
presidential terms of office. It is also rumored that he is paying the price
for opposing the ruling party which took him to parliament.
Almost Becoming President!
Hon Ayah then joined
the People’s Action Party, contested the 2011 elections and was fifth out of
some 23 candidates. There was later a huge debate about his election as the
chairman of the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, one of the movements
which have been clamoring for the restoration of the Southern Cameroons
Statehood. In the wake of the euphoria
of his ‘election,’ in 2016 he was appointed Deputy Attorney General at the
Supreme Court by the President of the Republic, Paul Biya.
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| Hon Ayah and Party Officials (2011) |
The opposition against
him accepting the post did not deter him from remaining true to his convictions.
He needed to his conscience to move on with
his career and took the job.
Even while in office, Hon Ayah did not stop
speaking up his mind against any form of injustice and holding power to
account. He never failed to denounce whenever the law was violated.
It is speculated
that his arrest could be linked to his decision to quit the CPDM which sent him
to parliament. This is considered as biting
the finger that fed him.
Hon Ayah, Justice and Law Defender
Despite criticism
on some of Hon Ayah’s position on some national issues he remains someone who
stood for justice and the respect for the rule of law. He founded a human
rights NGO, Justice4all in January of 2015 and
remained one of those who
stood for the Southern Cameroonian rights activist, Oben Maxwell, who is
detained at the Buea Prison on ‘secession’ charges.
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| With Close Aides |
His
presence at the Buea Court of First Instance in 2015 where about 25 SCNC activists
were arraigned reportedly helped in having the case thrown out after dozens of
adjournments in the past.As a Supreme Court judge, his eyeballs were on files
of lower courts that served hundreds of thousands from high levels of
injustice.
At some point, he lambasted the entire judiciary stating publicly
that it is very corrupt.Worth mentioning,
Hon Ayah Paul is the lone Cameroonian who declared his assets in 2011 on the
eve of the Presidential elections. He challenged those in authority to
do same and implicitly demanded the implementation of art 66 of Cameroon’s
constitution that requires the President and other top government officials,
declare their assets before and after leaving office. It however remained
unclear which criteria he used to declare his assets.
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| Hon Ayah Adressing a Buea Press Conference |
Hon Ayah prior to
his arrest was a member of the Higher Judicial Council of Cameroon. It’s headed
by the President of the Republic; Paul Biya .He was a member of an
investigation team to Balikumbat on the murder of a political leader. It is not
known whether he had information which might be embarrassing to the regime.
The Humanitarian and Patriot
His love and care for children caused him to
found the St Valentine Centre (orphanage), Buea, for boys; and St Valentine
Centre (orphanage) Akwaya (for girls). At least ten among them are said to be
university graduates. These children are
today unable to give meaning to their lives and future as a result of the
arrest of Hon Ayah. As Head of the different civil society organizations he has
been instrumental in carrying out rural development with the aim of helping the
rural poor and reducing poverty. He joined two others
to champion the construction of the Benakuma-Baworo stretch of the Wum-Akwaya
Road.
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| Hon Ayah (Left) and Orphans |
He did not hesitate to always denounce the enclavement of the Akwaya
community. It is no wonder
therefore that he was conferred an Award for his humanitarian works by “The
Post” newspaper in 1996. His love for the country was also influential in his naming
of his reflection guest house, “ Bakassi Na Cameroon” (Bakassi belongs to
Cameroon).
Hon Ayah has also defended
any encroachment on Cameroonian territory by Nigeria (which shares boarders
with Akwaya).
Academic Awards, Association
After his primary educationl in Akwaya and Mamfe , Hon Ayah studied at the
then Federal Bilingual Grammar School, Man O’ War Bay (now in Buea) and
obtained his Advance Level Certificate. After graduating from the Faculty of Laws
and Economics, University of Yaoundé he enrolled in School of Administration
and Magistracy, Yaounde. He is holder of
Licence en Droit (LLB) and an ENAM diploma (BaL) since 1978.He did military training
in Ngaoundere and was involved in rescue operations for the survivors of Lake
Nyos gas disaster of 1986 and is ex-officio coroner of the disaster.
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| Hon Ayah at Time of His Arrest |
He has several unpublished works, like his first play “Afonyi” and the
collection of poems, “FEELING NEW” among other works. It is reported that the then
President of the Republic, Ahmadou Ahidjo, came to ENAM to personally
congratulate Hon Ayah on his academic excellence.
Social Hon Ayah
Married to Endale Valentine and blessed with four able children Hon Ayah
is a man of God and Chairman of Parish Council, Catholic Church, Molyko, Buea.
In 1998 he was enthroned as Paramount Chief, Akwaya Town. He has been President
of the Akwaya Development Council and is one of the Founders of South West Elite
Association – SWELA, an elitist association clamoring for the development of
the South West Region although the grouping seems to be tearing itself apart
due to political machinations.
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| Hon Ayah's benjamin; He too was detained, humiliated and released |
The senior judge is member of several local,
continental organisations including the National Committee on Bio-safety,
Cameroon-Ivory Coast Friendship Group, the Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association and Member and led several parliamentary delegations to many
countries on the African continent.
Hon Ayah’s arrest
has been condemned by Southern Cameroonians and other Cameroonians who
described his detention as an abuse of power. Reports from Akwaya say the area
has not been at peace with itself since the arrest of the sitting judge and the
Paramount Ruler.
“That is the most
stupid thing (arrest of Hon Ayah) they have done,” commented a Senior
Cameroonian officer who resigned from the police force, denouncing corruption,
just like Hon Ayah.
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