From 14 to 15 March 2024, a training seminar was held in Yaoundé (Cameroon) organised by the UIHJ, Ersuma and the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Cameroon dedicated to the innovations brought by the new Uniform Act relating to the Organization of Simplified Recovery Procedures and Enforcement Measures of Ohada.
On 13 March 2024, the UIHJ delegation, composed of its President, Marc Schmitz, and its Vice-President, Jean Didier Bidié, first held a press conference with local journalists to raise public awareness of the missions and objectives of the UIHJ and on the seminar of the Training Unit for African Judicial Officers (Ufohja) which would open the next day.
The UIHJ delegation was then received in audience by His Excellency, Laurent Esso, Minister of State, Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals of the Republic of Cameroon, together with his main collaborators, in particular his Minister Delegate for the Justice. During this interview, Marc Schmitz gave a presentation on the UIHJ and its relations with international organisations and its members, the professional organisations of judicial officers from nearly 100 countries, including the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Cameroon. The Minister of State thanked the UIHJ for the visit and especially for its support in the organisation of the Ufohja seminar in Yaounde. He insisted on the importance of initial and continuing training of Cameroonian judicial officers, a guarantee of their professionalism. This exchange, described as fruitful by both parties, gave rise to the presentation of gifts on both sides, then to a photo immortalising the meeting.
The same day, a meeting of the African Presidents of the UIHJ present in Yaounde was held. During this meeting, the Presidents of the Chambers of Judicial Officers decided to launch the deployment and marketing of the Mercure H software allowing the management of African judicial officers’ offices in all the chambers of judicial officers of the member countries of Ohada. The next Ufohja seminar, the theme of which will be specified soon, was also set for 23 and 24 October 2024 in Conakry (Guinea).
The Ufohja seminar in Yaounde was a great success with more than 250 participants from eight countries (Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Senegal): judicial officers, magistrates, corporate lawyers, lawyers, teacher-researchers…
The opening ceremony was chaired by the Minister Delegate for Justice, representing the Minister of State, surrounded by Marc Schmitz, Karel Dogué, Director General of Ersuma, and Samuel Ename Nkwane, President of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Cameroon. The speakers insisted on the importance of this training seminar which is being held less than a month after 16 February 2024, the date of entry into force of the new Ohada Uniform Act on Enforcement. They urged the participants to be attentive and proactive at this major training event.
The Ufohja seminar took place under the scientific supervision of Ersuma around three modules and a workshop, covering the origins of the reform, its main orientations and its specific innovations. The speakers were Professor Ndiaw Diouf (Senegal), Samuel Ename Nkwane, Karel Dogué, Marc Schmitz, Mohammed Mouctar Sylla (Guinea), Jérôme Okemba Ngabondo (Congo), Dieudonné Pilh (Cameroon), Claude Assira (Cameroon), and Vieux Eyike (Cameroon).
The training aroused great interest among all the participants and gave rise to numerous fruitful exchanges.
