Senator and businesswoman Françoise Puene has offered to sponsor candidates for the entrance examination to the lawyer training program in Cameroon, an initiative that has immediately sparked a strong reaction from the National Bar Association. The Bar Association has denounced this approach as a "drift" and has threatened disciplinary sanctions against any lawyer who participates.
Françoise Puene, also known under the pseudonym "Mamy Nyanga," announced on February 22, 2026, that she wished to help candidates encountering difficulties in finding a sponsor, a condition required for registration for the competition. She noted that "many candidates are struggling to check the 'sponsorship' box, to find a sponsor under the conditions set by the texts". In response, she offered to involve law firms to facilitate this requirement, inviting candidates to submit their sponsorship requests to the Franco Hotel in Yaoundé.
The decree of the Ministry of Justice of February 12, 2026, requires candidates to provide a letter of sponsorship from a lawyer practicing for at least five years. The National Bar Association added clarifications, insisting on the need for a letter signed on letterhead of the firm, with the official stamp of the firm, the nominative stamp of the sponsor, their registration number, and their date of admission to the Bar.
The reaction of the Bar Association was not long in coming. The President of the Bar firmly condemned this "noisy intrusion," recalling that sponsorship is neither "a sporadic or commercial act" nor "an artifice in the hands of politicians". He warned that files containing attestations from unregistered firms would be rejected, and that any lawyer participating in this initiative would be subject to sanctions.
This controversy highlights the issues surrounding access to the legal profession in Cameroon, including the issue of sponsorship and the potential risks of corruption. Lawyer Christian Ntimbane Bomo has also denounced the limitation of the number of sponsorships per lawyer as an "illegal" measure, a source of "material and immoral trafficking". He emphasizes that the letter of sponsorship should not be confused with a training commitment and calls on the Bar Association to review its position.
Françoise Puene, an influential political figure and businesswoman, has been a senator since 2023 and is known for her social commitment, particularly to prison populations. Her sponsorship offer, although with the stated aim of facilitating access to lawyer training, clashes with the strict rules and vigilance of the Bar Association, which is concerned with preserving the integrity of the profession.
The situation highlights the tensions between individual initiatives aimed at facilitating access to certain professions and the role of professional bodies in regulating and controlling these professions. The Bar Association seems determined to maintain strict control over the sponsorship process, in order to avoid any abuse and to guarantee the ethics of the profession.
