By Cherrylane Mbimbi
 |
The National Anti Corruption
Commission-CONAC headed by Rev. Dieudonne Massi Gams released its 2012 Annual
report on the fight against corruption in Cameroon. The report which was made
public last December 20, 2013 at the Yaounde Conference Centre revealed that
within a period of ten years, 113,257,210,246 FCFA was siphoned at the Cameroon
Cotton Development Company-SODECOTTON, where Iya Mohammed was General Manager. The
report also indicted the Government Delegate to the Nkongsamba City Council. It
revealed that with just two vehicles in its parking, the Government Delegate to
the Nkongsamba City Council, Dr. Kollo Basile was buying fuel to the tune of
3.5 million FCFA per month.
Rev. Diudonne Massi Gams
expressed joy that Cameroonians have developed a lot of trust in what the
National Anto-corruption commission is doing given that the numbers of
complaints have registered an impressive increase. Harping on the numbers of
complaints, Rev. Massi Gams observed with satisfaction that in 2012, some 208
cases of corruption were denounced as compared to 1274 denunciations in 2011,
482 cases in 2010 and 312 cases in 2009. This according to Rev. Massi Gams paved
the way for the creation of the Special Criminal Court and the Ministry of
Public Contracts as well as the spiraling of corrupt officials by the Supreme
State Audit. The civil society and the private sector, he remarked have also
been very instrumental in the fight against corruption in Cameroon by making a
significant contribution in the struggle. On the staffing situation of CONAC,
Rev. Massi Gams regretted that the poor staffing situation at his disposal
remains a perpetual handicap. With the increasing number of cases reported by
Cameroonians, CONAC he said needs enough staff and cars to intervene whenever
the need arises.
It should be noted that in the
past years, a good number of former Ministers, Directors of State Corporations
as well as Secretary Generals at the Presidency of the republic and a former
Prime Minister have been arrested and sentenced for siphoning state funds.
However, critical minds are of the opinion that the fight against corruption
has been transformed into settling of scores. With Sparrow Hawk, pillars of the
Biya regime like former Prime Minister Chief Ephraim Inoni, Marafat Hamidou
Yaya, Atangana Mebara, Gerald Ondong Ndong, Urbain Oleguena Owono, Iya
Mohammed, Titus Edzoa, Zachs Forjindam, etc are in prison. Yet a school of
thought holds that the fight against corruption in Cameroon is smoked screen
and that the real economic gangsters are moving free while those who in one way
or the other opposed President Biya were tagged with embezzlement charges and
arrested.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa
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