The Commission Chairman, Dr Chemuta Banda made the call in Yaounde Monday.
The Chairman of Cameroon’s National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Dr Divine Chemuta Banda has invited all potential voters to register in the ongoing biometric recompilation of the electoral registers in order to participate in upcoming elections. He made the call at the Yaounde Chamber of Commerce yesterday, December 10, 2012 as he chaired commemorative activities of the 64th International Day of Human Rights organized on the theme, “Inclusion and participation in public life: my voice counts.”
“The Commission is calling on each citizen to know that his or her vote counts. We are inviting all citizens to register and be ready to participate in the system either as candidates or electors, for this is important in shaping their future,” Dr Chemuta Banda said. He used the occasion to enumerate various efforts the Cameroon government with the assistance of partners and civil society is making to encourage and ensure the participation of citizens without discrimination in the country’s political and economic life. He appealed for joint action to break the barriers that impede some citizens’ participation in public life.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay in a message read during the occasion attributed uprisings in different countries in the past two years to citizens, “asking for their right to participate fully in the important decisions and policies affecting their daily lives…”
Some 10 human rights associations went back home with special gifts from the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa, represented by Abdoulaye Traoré and three associations including the Network of Journalists Friends of Human Rights each received a laptop computer from the Commission.
