A crisis appeared on January 6 when Master Raymond Obama Sima was elected new president at the end of the general assembly of the order. Since then, an appeal has been filed with the Council of State to annul his election. A hearing will be held on Wednesday. But the conflict seems to have moved outside the courts.
For the opponents of the new president, Me Raymond Obame Sima does not have enough seniority to exercise these functions. The theory requires ten years of practice, but some provisions would require up to fifteen years of practice. Me Jean-Paul Moumbembé filed the appeal with the Council of State. He asks that a new election be organized and that an interim president be appointed.
” My young colleague forgot all these rules, he was satisfied with the principle. He can’t represent the bar, so it’s better to leave the case before the case leaves you. It is the chairman who represents every lawyer, everywhere. But he cannot represent the bar before the Court of Cassation and neither before the Constitutional Court. He can never be accepted even if there are ceremonies, he can never make any speech on behalf of the bar. He can not ! », insists Jean-Paul Moumbembe.
The crisis seems deep. A project of split within the order was fanned and the Council of the order suspended for six months one of the lawyers implicated. Finally, this weekend, two break-ins, particularly in the offices of Me Sima, were observed. ” I preferred to consider that these were isolated acts of clumsy burglars but some colleagues still urged me to be very careful “, relativizes Me Raymond Obame Sima. Master Sima specifies that during the break-in, the surveillance cameras mysteriously remained inactive. He promised to file a complaint. “ I am totally surprised by the turn of events. An election was held with totally indisputable results. I have for me the serenity of the law “, he believes.