M. AMADOU ALI
2001 - 2011
Born in 1943, AMADOU ALI, the native of Kolofata, Mayo-Sava, Far north region is a Civil Administrator and pure product of the Cameroon highspheres of administration. AMADoU ALI attended primary school in Mora. He later moved to Garoua where he completed his secondary education at Lycée de Garoua.
He is a graduate of the national School of Magistracy and Administration. He also studied in France at Institut International d’Administration publique de Paris-IIAP. This renowned and reserved man has had a long and rich political and administrative career. He was Minister of State, Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals from 2001 to 2011. He began his professional career in 1961 as an Administrative Assistant in Guider, before moving to Garoua later on. on 15th June 1964, he was appointed Divisional officer of Kaélé. It was during this same period that he pursued studies simultaneously at Enam and IIAP in Paris. In 1970, he graduated from IIAP and was first of his class. In 1971, he repeated this achievement by graduating first of his class upon completing from Enam. A few months later, AMADOU ALI was appointed first Assistant Senior Divisional officer and posted in Ngaoundéré. He next moved to the Ministry of Territorial Administration where he was made Director of the Organisation of Territory from September 1972 to January 1974.
In the same line, AMADOU ALI was promoted Secretary General at the Ministry of Public Service. From there, he left for the Gendarmerie following his appointment as General Delegate for national Security on 7th June 1982. His career kept going higher and on 24th August 1985, he became Secretary of State in charge of Defence where he stayed for 12 years.
In 1996, AMADOU ALI was called to serve the State, but this time around at the Presidency of the Republic. This is how he became the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic till December 1997. Thereafter, he was appointed for the second time in hiscareer Secretary of State in charge of Defence from December 1997 to April 2001. It was Decree no. 2001/102 of 27th April 2001 to reorganise the Government that consecrated the arrival of AMADOU ALI at the head of the Ministry of Justice. He held the position of Minister of Justice, with the rank of Minister of State till December 8, 2004 when he was promoted to the position of Vice Prime Minister. During his mandate as Minister of Justice, AMADOU ALI was confronted with contemporary challenges constantly encountered in the judicial milieu; like Lawyer’s honorarium and the extension of notarial duties of lawyers in the English-speaking provinces to all other provinces of Cameroon.
Besides, the year 2004 under the mandate of the Vice Prime Minister witnessed a Lawyer’s strike following some incidents of reported police brutality on some Lawyers in Douala and Kumba. Thanks to AMADOU ALI’s administrative knowhow, the Government initiated dialogue with the then president of the Bar Association EBANGA EWODO and the strike was called off some days later. Also, during the years 2005 to 2008, he put in considerable efforts to help increase the total number of Magistrates, Registrars and other judicial personnel across the country in order to ameliorate the services rendered to litigants. In this light, he laid emphasis on training of Magistrates and capacity-building thanks to agreements and partnerships signed with development partners like the European Union.
Furthermore, on 3rd May 2004, AMADOU ALI signed a Circular addressed to Presidents of Courts of First Instance across the national territory. Circular No. 0055/50.635/CS/SG/ MJ clearly identified and outlined 2 judicial measures to facilitate the obtention of the national Identity Card at a time when the country was facing some difficulties in protecting or establishing the Cameroonian identity. These measures included the exemption of the payment of stamp fees during the establishment of the Certificate of nationality and charges on forms from Courts of First Instance and the General Delegation for national Security. These special dispositions went a long way to help reduce the cost of issuance of the national Identity Card and remained applicable for some time. AMADOU ALI held his post till 2011 when he was appointed Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament. He was replaced at the helm of the Ministry of Justice by the Minister of State Laurent ESSO.
