Case Of Alleged Sexual Harassment Against Senior Public Official Finally Begins In Yaounde

The Case Pitting President Of CHRC, Prof James Mouangue Kobila, and Former Close Collaborator, Tsemo Esperance, Is Being Heard In Chambers On The Request Of The Defendant  

 Plaintiff’s lawyer says they want ANTIC to provide the content of some particular telephone calls that defendant made to plaintiff

Sharply contrasting views were early this year expressed over what looked like an unprecedented legal action against a Cameroonian authority, for alleged sexual harassment. To be precise, a law suit was filed against the Chairman of the State owned Cameroon Human Rights Commission, CHRC, Prof James Mouangue Kobila (a university don) by the then close collaborator, Nkouete Messah Judith Esperance epse Kouobou Tsemo, for alleged sexual harassment, among others.

To be precise Mme Tsemo Esperance who today is 32 years old, filed six charges against Prof Mouangue Kobila, with the principal charge being Sexual Harassment. The other charges include Defamation, Threats, Blackmail, among others. The case or complaint was filed by ‘Citation Directe’ at the Yaounde Magistrate Court (Court of First Instance) – Administrative Center. The case came up for the first time in court on Tuesday, February 6, 2024. But then there were lots of wrangling between the two parties, especially by their lawyers.  The legal counsel of the defense did everything possible to get the court to throw out the matter, but it did not work. In June the court finally decided that the matter would be heard, and so the case would go ahead.

Matter Being Heard In Chambers

At that point the accused person, Prof Mouangue Kobila, requested that the hearing of the matter should be done in chambers, and not in the open court. It sparked another disagreement between the two parties, as the plaintiff, Madam Tsemo Esperance, and her lawyer, Barrister Charlotte Tchakounte, wanted that the case be heard in the open court. Suffice to say the court ended up granting the request of the defense, that the case be heard in chambers.

The supporters of the plaintiff, Mrs Tsemo Esperance, were quick to draw their conclusion that the accused person, Prof Mouangue Kobila, was guilty, and that was why he did not want the case to be heard in the open court. They even insinuated that there would be injustice against the plaintiff if the case was heard in chambers. That the accused person wanted the case to be heard in Chambers because according to them, it is easier to bribe a judge to distort a judgment, when a case is being heard  in Chambers, because the public and other lawyers would not be present to follow the hearings.

It should as well be noted that the number of those who were supporting the President of CHRC, Prof Mouangue Kobila, on the social media in the case of alleged sexual harassment, has dwindled significantly. Some of  the supporters  say that  the plea  that was made to the Yaounde Court of First Instance or Magistrate Court ,  by  the President of CHRC that the case  on sexual harassment be heard  in chambers instead of  the open court, gave them the  impression that perhaps he was guilty of the charge of sexual harassment.

But the request by an accused person in a case, that the matter should be heard in chambers, does not necessary means that he is guilty.  While not ruling out the possibility that Prof Mouangue Kobila may be guilty of the accusation of sexual harassment, he may also not be guilty. As a high profile person in the society, he probably wants to protect his family and other love ones from the way lawyers of plaintiffs in cases of sexual harassment, generally display in court, with practical dramatizations. They will dramatize how the accused persons sexually harassed their clients by grabbing the breasts or how they struggled to get under the skirts of the complainants. These allegations, especially the way lawyers do dramatize them, can be very embarrassing and traumatizing to the love ones or the accused persons.

Demand For ANTIC To Provide Content Of Telephone Calls

Meanwhile when the case opened in chambers in the first week of September, that is last week, at the Yaounde Court of First Instance, Administrative Center, the lawyer of the plaintiff, Barrister Charlotte Tchakounte, reportedly tabled a demand to the court, which she said will serve as a major evidence to show that Mrs Tsemo   Esperance was a victim of sexual harassment by her then boss. The lawyer requested that the court ask the National Agency for Information and Communication Technologies commonly known by the French acronym, ANTIC, to present to the court the content of a number of telephone calls that Prof Mouangue Kobila allegedly made to Tsemo Esperance, on some particular dates.  Hummmmmm!