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by Valentin S. Zinga, Cameroon, January 2000
THEME = CORRUPTION
In his end-of-year speech, the President of the Republic stated that: "The frenetic individualism which characterises modern society, has given rise to egoistic and even criminal activities which must be resisted lest the fabric of society be damaged. The state has not avoided this downward trend. By abusing power, servants of the state have used their position or their services for their own personal profit. It has to be understood by all, that this kind of conduct will continue to be punished." Paul Biya was once again using one of his favourite refrains.
Let's recall the events at the beginning of September. On 1 September 1999, the Head of State signed two decrees sacking Mr Mounchipou Seïdou, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, and Mr Pierre Désiré Engo, Director of the National Social Security Fund. (CNPS). Of course, the President gave no reason for those dismissals.
At most, it was known a few weeks before, that the Minister of Posts was under grave suspicion of shady dealings. The story goes, that senior officials as well as the Minister himself had been given bribes. The Press not only confirmed these suspicions but also gave a list of 400 dealings considered suspicious.
A few days after these politicians's disgrace, the courts seized the files concerning them. Messrs Engo and Mounchipou were placed under arrest in Yaoundé Central Prison, accused of embezzlement of public funds. A few weeks later, about a dozen senior officials of the Ministry of Posts, also accused of embezzlement of public funds, joined them in the lockup. Since then we've heard nothing.
For some months, one recurring theme of official presidential speeches has been: Legal action will be taken against those who have regarded the state as their private property. However, the President's words quoted above, give the impression that the clean-up campaign has not yet achieved its aim; the people are now calling for action, not words.
In fact, it seems the sanctions campaign has ground to a halt. Now even the most moderate observers are beginning to ask, whether the initiator of the campaign was not too quick in finding scapegoats to be castigated by public opinion. More critical observers say that it gives the impression of improvisation, if not a flash in the pan. Diplomats of "friendly" countries share the same fears, and are not slow to express in private their disappointment or exasperation. Some of those who provide funds are anxious to know whether the "campaign" has not finally fizzled out.
The court files covering these cases have not yet been finalised. The Minister of Justice announced a while ago, that more than 400 files have been drawn up. But many sceptics are questioning whether these files are so incomplete, that none of them can justify the committal orders.
In the same vein, many are hinting, in recent weeks, at the existence of a first draft of an auditor's report, commissioned by the International Monetary Fund, bearing on the ten largest public commercial operations in Cameroon covering last year. And they are wondering if this first draft is not enough to re-launch the "clean-up campaign". Leaks from fund- provider sources, indicate that the report in its present form is "damning". It is understood that Cameroon's fund- providers, expect the authorities to draw all the conclusions justified by the results of the audit...all the more so, that Cameroon expects to get substantial financial help from the fund- providers, in the framework of the national program for government, adopted at the end of August 1999 by the Prime Minister, Peter Mafany Musonge.
Some observers have expressed some reservations, tending to favour the hypothesis that political considerations are the real obstacles to the campaign. The President's speech was full of pointers: e.g. Pierre Désiré Engo, said to be a personal friend of the President, is originally from the same southern province. What is more, the former director of the CNPS is a member of the RDPC's Political Bureau, a fact which gives him even greater prestige and importance. As for Mr Mounchipou, without being an influential member of the party in power, he is nevertheless a member of the party. All this caused panic in Paul Biya's party. The activists in the party were convinced that the Head of State had decided to spare nobody in his clean-up campaign.
The day following the arrests, the RDPC organised "provincial seminars" for its activists. Officially, the RDPC wanted to give its reaction to the "scandals" which had erupted. The RDPC was eager to re-affirm some regulatory principles of democratic life. A noteworthy fact: the "barons" of the regime, particularly the ministers, had expressed great reservations about the course of action pursued by President Biya, thus giving rise to comments about their presumed complicity in the "scandals".
To this must be added, that the session of the National Assembly of November 1999 did not lift the parliamentary immunity of some Members, who were thought to be mixed up in the scandals relating to use of state funds, and whom many label as RDPC militants. Seen from this angle, the blockage of the campaign has a clear explanation: the President could not take the risk of continuing to punish those who had taken liberties with public funds, for otherwise he would be attacking his own political power base.
In fact, the Head of State was implicated in a very complicated matter of money and sects. The French daily Le Monde in its issue of 24 December 1999, reported that the Etoudi Palace's incumbent had, during a period of four years, given gifts amounting to 7 billion CFA francs (from the coffers of the National Hydrocarbon Company) to occult circles in France. An "affair" of this kind had already been widely talked about. At that time, the Canard Enchainé had wallowed in a nauseating mudbath, besmirching the President's reputation. Matters which touch on ethics and what's happening behind the scenes among government supporters, are, to say the least, embarrassing for President Biya.
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