CONAC Report Indicts Iya Mohammed, Kollo Basile, others

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.

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