Over 375 Billion FCFA Rescued from Embezzlers

CPI-CAM brandishes the Ministry of Public Contracts as most corrupt in 2017.

Cameroon’s 2017 Anti-corruption Status Report is the eighth report on the State of the fight against corruption in the country published by the National Anti-Corruption Commission of Cameroon. Besides the activities of CONAC, the report highlights anti-corruption actions carried out by other control institutions, the courts, ministries, public administrative bodies, public and semi-public companies and other subsidised organs, the private sector and civil society.

The 2017 Report also carries the result of an opinion poll conducted by CONAC in 2015-2016 on the perception and impact of the anti-corruption activities of Ministries and some private enterprises in Cameroon. This study introduced, for the first time, the corruption perception index of Cameroon, CPI Cam. The Ministry of Public Contracts, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance were considered by users as the most corrupt government ministries. At the level of the Regions, the Adamawa Region, with its 42,64 % rate of implementation of its regional plan of action, still stands out as a Region where the highest efforts are made to combat the ill.

In all, efforts made by CONAC, the Supreme State Audit Office, the Special Criminal Court, the National Financial Agency and the Judicial Bench of the supreme Court, permitted the State of Cameroon to save CFA 375 billion 148 million 476 thousand 340FCFA.

The official presentation of the document took place on the 28 of December 2018, in a highly attended ceremony at the Yaounde Conference Centre. Representatives of the Judicial, Legislative and executive arms of government were present. Members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of political parties, heads of public and private enterprises, civil society leaders and media persons also came to have first hand information on the anti-corruption drive in Cameroon.

The Chairman of CONAC presented a synopsis of the report, with emphasis on some catching facts and figures. 3982 denunciations were received at CONAC from Cameroon and abroad. The main investigations carried out by CONAC were at the BICEC bank and CONGELCAM.

The ugly side observed in the fight against corruption in 2017 can be considered as the obstacles that slowed down the fight. The actions of CONAC, for example, are hampered by insufficient human resources, absence of CONAC branches throughout the national territory, inertia by anti-corruption units in Ministries and the lack of traceability of money recovered through the fight against corruption. The absence of legal provisions for the non-declaration of assets and illicit enrichment is also a weak knot in the anti-corruption chain.

The guests at the ceremony to present Cameroon’s 2017 Anti-Corruption Status Report left the Yaounde Conference Centre with copies of the document published in both the French and the English versions.