Buea: lawyers say they do the work, Douala lawyers get the pay

8 lawyers in Buea have written a complaint against the head of the military court in the South West, Magistrate Colonel Chinda Jackson saying the ourt has failed to pay them for work done.

These lawyers say they have been working on a particular case for almost two years and have been expecting their pay for a long time now. Barister Seseko Stanley, one of the disgruntled lawyers spoke to the media on February 06:

” We are angry because we have been working hard for so long now without pay. We have been patient knowing maybe there is no money only to find out that more than 1.000.000frs had been given to lawyers in Douala in relation to same case we all have been working on. Lawyers who have hardly spent 8 months in the profession. We have been seriously disrespected and ghosted and we need explanations on how possible it is that lawyers in Buea will be treated this way to do much of the work while others are getting paid”.

Barrister Seseko further says the lawyers in Buea have written to the minister of justice and other government officials to investigate the issue and understand why other lawyers from different towns will get paid for work not done and how the money left Buea to Douala without them getting their money.

The Barristers say the complaint was deposited on November 25 2022 and they are yet to get a reaction from authorities:

” I have been going to that court for years but have never received a dime as pay. I was more than shocked when we all the lawyers found out money was given to our junior colleagues in Douala,” Barrister Fernandez, one of the disgruntled lawyers said.

The 8 disgruntled lawyers in Buea say they want to understand why the head of the military court in the South West would fake documents and pay lawyers in Douala then ignore lawyers in Buea.

” Per the legal procedure, a lawyer is given a certain document to show he or she is in charge of a certain case with stamps on that document. For over two years, I in particular have been on this case so how will another person recieve payment over a case which is not his own? How did the lawyers in Douala even get paid without showing that document? I can not understand. No matter how slow the investigation process is, we will wait. We have lawyers who have families to feed and who leave far places like Mamfe to come to Buea and need their pay. Payment goes through much process so how did all the leaders sign and make payments?” one of the lawyers wonders.

These lawyers have refused to go back to work unless the case is settled.