Then Blama Malla said it again; "Jua is a Nigerian." Hon. Jua stood looking perplexed, but later shouted; “You call me a Nigerian?” Then the entire Parliamentary Group of the Opposition Social Democratic Front, SDF, went into a rage, saying it was an insult against all Anglophones. Anglophone CPDM MPs equally protested that somebody referred to a fellow Cameroonian as a Nigerian simply because he spoke in English. The violent melee lasted a little over seven minutes as Ministers gaped at the melee. House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yegue Djibril, tried to calm the situation several times, in vain. The protesting MPs asked Blama Malla to apologise, but he refused. Tension died down only when Cavaye apologised for the unfortunate incident. “I sincerely apologise on behalf of the CPDM Parliamentary Group for this incident,” Cavaye said.

The SDF Parliamentary Group leader, Mbah Ndam, said they accepted the apology with reluctance. Embarrassed at the dimension to which the incident was extending, Blama Malla said he was only joking and throwing a jibe at Jua because he was his friend. But SDF MPs said it was such a cruel joke that could tear the country apart. The MPs said such a joke reminded them of derogatory statements that have been made against Anglophones such as, “enemies in the house” and “Anglophones are Biafrans.” When calm returned, Jua said he was happy and proud that he was born an Anglophone. Said he; “I am an Anglophone from former West Cameroon and I am proud of that.”

Talking about the 2005 finance bill, Jua condemned the fact that government tabled it four days to the end of the session. He expressed dismay that even though Cameroon is a bilingual country, most of the documents of the budget were in French. According to him, such an omission was a violation of the country’s constitution, which states that all official documents should appear both in French and English. Jua argued that the budget, whose purpose is to spur the socio-economic development of the country, had not gone through adequate parliamentary scrutiny, as many MPs were yet to see a copy of the document, let alone study it. To prove that Cameroon’s parliament is not a rubber-stamp edifice, Jua said, “We should not vote this bill."

He told fellow MPs that voting such a budget was tantamount to issuing a blank cheque to government to plunder the country’s resources with impunity. Such a consideration, he went on, was even more important given that no adequate measures for the fight against poverty and corruption have been envisaged. Hon. Cavaye put the matter to vote. Jua’s motion was quashed when the CPDM parliamentary majority voted 115 against 21 for the SDF. The few MPs of Cameroon Democratic Union, CDU, and Union Des Population du Cameroun, UPC, who were present at the time, remained mute.

Debate

When general debates opened, Hon. Françoise Foning, CPDM MP for the Wouri constituency, said the budget was a wonderful instrument of development. She said since the budget makes provision for the payment of internal debts, it was the magic wand that would propel President Paul Biya’s great ambitions to greater achievements. She called on MPs to vote the budget without hesitating. Hon. Paul Ayah Abine, took exception to the fact that when MPs vote the budget, some Ministers still go fidgeting with it by transferring credit from one place to the other at their convenience. Ayah was equally bitter that some members of government do not seem to master the political map of the country. He complained that projects on the construction of the Befang-Baworo-Akwaya road were put under the West Province. Other CPDM MPs, including Hon. Ndo’o Evina, Zondo Herse, Botto Angon, and Owono Kono, acclaimed the budget.

Hon. Mbah Ndam raised the case of ordinary parliamentarians whom he said were not only earning little, but were constantly being harassed to pay car loans. “Mr. Minister do not treat MPs as if they are civil servants,” he said, noting that sometimes MPs are paid late because the Finance Minister has not yet sent a cheque. Hon. Tasi Ntang Lucas, Ngetcham, P.C Fonso, Aaron Neba, Sarli Ahmadou, took turns in questioning certain provisions of the budget. Hon. Norbert Bile from the Ndian constituency, asked government why the Ndian people were not receiving royalties for the simple reason that Cameroon’s oil is from that area.

The Ministers of Economy and Finance, Justice, Higher Education, Transport, Physical Education and Sports also took turns in reacting to issues raised by MPs. SDF MPs later walked out as the CPDM, UPC, CDU MPs adopted the budget. The 2005 budget stands at 1721 billion.

Private Member Bills Rejected

The closing plenary also rejected three private member bills submitted by Hon. Paulinus Jua and Mbah Ndam. Jua had laid two bills, proposing amendments to law no 92/10 September 17, 1992 to lay down conditions governing the vacancy and election to the Presidency of the Republic as amended by law No 97/020 September 9,1997. He also proposed a two-round Presidential election, which the majority of CPDM MPs crushed in a vote after raising a preliminary objection.