Paul Abine Ayah was a member of the

National Assembly of Cameroon The National Assembly (french: Assemblée Nationale) is the lower house of the Parliament of Cameroon. It has 180 members, elected for five-year terms in 49 single and multi-seat constituencies. Together with the senate, it constitutes the legi ...

and a member of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement. Until recently, he joined the Opposition Party called the Peoples Action Party (PAP). In August 2007 he was elected as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of Cameroon. He is a deputy for Manyu in the Southwest Region. He graduated from the Cameroon National School of Administration and Magistracy ( ENAM) in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

in 1976 and went on to become the vice-president of the Court of Appeal in

Buea Buea is the capital of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. The city is located in Fako Division, on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon, and has a population of 300,000 (at the 2013 Census). It has two Government Hotels, the Mountain Hotel and ...

, Southwest Region, until becoming member of the National Assembly of Cameroon in 2002. He is based in Akwaya, which is accessible by a poorly maintained road and foot track from

Mamfe Mamfe or Mamfé is a city in and the capital of Manyu, a division of the Southwest Region in Cameroon. It is from the border of Nigeria, on the Manyu River. It has a population of 36,500 (2017 estimate). It is known as a centre for traditiona ...

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 ...

, however it is easier to access from

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The area has been subject to unrest due to land and tribal conflict. In June 2006, along with other deputies, he called on the government to investigate allegations of high-level corruption involving one of its ministers,

Augustin Frédéric Kodock Augustin Frédéric Kodock (March 1, 1933 at Cameroonian government website . – October 24, 2011) was a Cameroonian politician who was Secretary-General of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC-K faction) from 1991 to 2011. He worked in Ca ...

, regarding Kodock's earlier tenure at the head of the Agriculture Ministry. In November 2007, he indicated his support for a law banning female genital mutilation, which is still practiced by members of the Ejagham tribe in the area he represents as a deputy. He also indicated his support for a law that would ban marriage for children. For women and girls marriage without parental consent is not permitted until 21 in Cameroon, and marriages of girls under 15 years old are not permitted by law, except with presidential permission. However, marriages as young as 8 or 9 years old occur in the north of Cameroon. In early 2008, Ayah was an outspoken critic of the 2008 changes to the

Constitution of Cameroon The Constitution of Cameroon is the supreme law of the Republic of Cameroon. Adopted in 1972, it is Cameroon's third constitution. The document consists of a preamble and 13 Parts, each divided into Articles. The Constitution outlines the rights gu ...

, which removed term limits that would have prevented 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.

from standing for re-election in 2011. According to Ayah, the changes were "not democratic", and he said that if the bill was adopted it would "will take us back some 200 years." Despite not being present at the vote in the National Assembly and declaring that he had not made a

procuration Procuration () is the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency. The word is applied to the authority or power delegated to a procurator, or agent, as well as to the exercise of such authority expressed frequently by procurat ...

for his vote, a vote was reportedly made in his name. In November 2007, he indicated his support for a law banning female genital mutilation, which in the past was practiced by members of the Ejagham tribe. Paul Ayah represents the Akwaya subdivision as a deputy. On 3 January 2011, Ayah Paul resigned from the CPDM and stood for the presidential elections. He was later appointed as a sitting judge at the supreme court of Cameroon.

Arrest and release

Ayah Paul was arrested on 21 January 2017, in connection of advocating for Cameroon to return to federal system of government as it was in the 1960s. He was tried at the Yaoundé military tribunal with other Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC) which is now banned and illegal by the government of Cameroon in relation to the civil unrest in the two English speaking regions of Cameroon. Ayah Paul, was released from prison by a presidential decree on 30 August, 2017 after spending more than eight months in detention in Yaounde prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayah, Paul Abine Members of the National Assembly (Cameroon) Cameroon People's Democratic Movement politicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people)