Marcel Niat Njifenji (born 26 October 1934Armand Essogo
"Marcel Niat Njifenji, Un homme d’expérience à la tête du Sénat"
''Cameroon Tribune'', 13 June 2013 .) is a

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

ian politician who has been President of the Senate of Cameroon since 2013. A member of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), he previously served for years as Director-General of the National Electricity Company, and he was also a minister in the government during the early 1990s.

Life and career

Born in 1934 at Bangangté, located in Cameroon's West Region,Armelle Nya
"Cameroun : Marcel Niat Njifenji élu président du Sénat"
''Jeune Afrique'', 13 June 2013 . Niat Njifenji worked as an engineer of roads and bridges. He was Director-General of the National Electricity Company (''Société nationale d'Electricité'', SONEL), the state-owned electricity company, from 1974 to 1984. When rebellious soldiers attempted to overthrow President

Paul Biya Paul Biya (born Paul Barthélemy Biya'a bi Mvondo; 13 February 1933) is a Cameroonian politician who has served as the president of Cameroon since 6 November 1982.

in an April 1984 coup attempt, Niat Njifenji was immediately arrested and jailed. Although it was considered doubtful that he had anything to do with the coup attempt, he was reportedly abused during his imprisonment and attempted suicide.''Country Report: Cameroon, CAR, Chad''
(1989), ''The Economist Intelligence Unit'', page 11. He was released from prison in 1989 and promptly restored to his post at SONEL in September 1989. Niat Njifenji also served in the government as Minister of Planning and Territorial Administration from 7 September 1990 to 26 April 1991, while remaining Director-General of SONEL. Subsequently, he was Deputy Prime Minister for Mines, Water, and Energy from 9 April 1992 to 27 November 1992. He was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

in the 1992 parliamentary election, but he did not serve his term and remained in his post as Director-General of SONEL throughout the 1990s. Eventually the company was

privatized Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

, and Niat Njifenji was replaced by an AES Sirocco executive in July 2001. In 2002, Niat Njifenji was elected as Mayor of Bangangté; he served as Mayor until September 2007, when he was succeeded by Célestine Keutcha Courtes.Alfred Mvogo
"Cameroun: Célestine Keutcha Courtes, nouveau maire de Bangangté"
''Cameroon Tribune'', 21 September 2007 .

President of the Senate

In 2013, after years of delay, the Senate was established to serve as the upper house of Cameroon's

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

; previously only the

existed. President Biya appointed Niat Njifenji to the Senate in May 2013.Daniel Kameni
"Cameroun: La liste des 100 sénateurs"
''Mutations'', 10 May 2013 ."Cameroun: Marcel Niat Njifenji élu président du Sénat"
RFI, 13 June 2013 . He was one of 30 senators to receive their seats by presidential appointment; the other 70 senators were indirectly elected. Biya appointed three senators for each

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

, and Niat Njifenji was one of the three to come from West Region. Niat Njifenji was elected as President of the Senate on 12 June 2013. In the 100-member body, there were 86 votes in favor of Niat Njifenji; no senators voted against him, although 14 senators cast

spoilt vote In voting, a ballot is considered spoilt, spoiled, void, null, informal, invalid or stray if a law declares or an election authority determines that it is invalid and thus not included in the vote count. This may occur accidentally or deliberat ...

s."Cameroun : Marcel Niat Njifenji élu Président du Sénat"
Xinhua, 13 June 2013 . As President of the Senate, Niat Njifenji would, according to the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, succeed President Biya if the latter were to die in office; he would lead the country until a new presidential election could be held, and he would not be permitted to stand as a candidate in that election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niat Njifenji, Marcel 1934 births Living people Members of the Senate (Cameroon) Chairs of upper houses People from West Region (Cameroon) Cameroonian engineers Deputy Prime Ministers of Cameroon Government ministers of Cameroon 20th-century engineers 20th-century Cameroonian politicians 21st-century engineers 21st-century Cameroonian politicians