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Cameroon |
CORRUPTION
Cameroon’s government, in its efforts to fight against corruption,
formed
an ad hoc committee to coordinate the work of observers
and groups carrying
out this work.
But the scourge of corruption has not retreated by one inch.
In 1998 and 1999, Cameroon led the table of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the German NGO, Transparency International. It did no better in 2000 and 2001, being respectively 6th and 7th in this shameful hit parade. These observations have generally tarnished Cameroon’s brand image, and caused everyone in Cameroon twinges of conscience about the extent of this scourge.
In their Pastoral Letter published on 3rd September 2000, Cameroon’s bishops sounded the alarm: «Corruption has reached suicidal levels in our society. It is accepted as a normal way of life, so much so that no-one feels any guilt in taking part». This is the picture of Cameroon’s society, where corruption is gradually becoming a kind of Mafia, a vicious circle, where those who do not want to take part in the game have no chance to get out. In order to confront this scourge that is destroying the economy and consciences, Cameroon’s authorities have implemented a government plan to fight against corruption.
Government strategy
After behaving like an ostrich for a long time, refusing to treat corruption as a social scourge, Cameroon’s government, probably under pressure from the IMF and the World Bank, has finally decided to tackle the problem. In March 1998, it launched a national campaign against corruption, with the slogan: «Corruption kills». The aim was to sensitise public opinion, and to help Cameroon’s people to see that they are all both victims and guilty of this crime.
In August 1999, this campaign was followed by the creation of an ad hoc committee responsible for coordinating strategies for fighting against corruption, chaired by Prime Minister Peter Mafany Musonge. The latter in turn created a national observatory for fighting against corruption, whose local operations in the field are carried out by anti-corruption cells set up in every ministry and public services. The task of these cells is to report to the minister concerned, on any corrupt practices discovered, and to recommend measures to discourage them.
Running out of steam
These structures seemed to show that Cameroon’s government is determined to wipe out corruption. But after the arrest and imprisonment of the managing director of the National Social Contingency Fund, Pierre Désiré Engo, and the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Mounchipou Seydou, there has been a loss of impetus, because of internal political pressures. In a country where the inveterate corrupt and corrupters recruit each other in the higher echelons of the State, the argument for preservation of social harmony was quickly put forward to end the hunt for the corrupt.
The government then found itself in the difficult position of saying one thing and doing the opposite. In his End Of Year Address to the Nation on 31 December 2000, President Paul Biya easily found a way of explaining away the problems in restoring public morale: «It is not an easy task, since this evil is deeply rooted in the habits of behaviour that favour the economic crisis. The government is making every effort to apply strategies of good governance and for the fight against corruption. Many examples of this have been achieved, others will follow».
This implicit U-turn by the government continues to draw criticism among national opinion-formers. Dr Moïse Albert Njambe, a leading figure in Cameroon civil society, does not hide his disappointment: «I am convinced that the State has the will to eradicate corruption, but I detest the ineffective intrusive and obtrusive methods used. The tone was certainly set by the arrest of Pierre Désiré Engo and Mounchipou Seydou. But in fact, thousands of corrupt individuals go unpunished. Cameroon’s method of punishment by cherry-picking people seems partial and biased».
This observation seems to indicate that multiplying the structures used to fight corruption is a means to attract investors and backers, who are not always well-informed about the daily reality of life in Cameroon. The way in which the fight against corruption in Cameroon has become bogged down, also shows the problems the State has in applying the sacrosanct principle of equality of all citizens before the law, and also raises tribal and ethnic considerations. It is this tendency to complacency that gives free rein to abuses that have plunged Cameroon into generalised corruption, in which every citizen feels obliged to corrupt or be corrupted.
An anti-corruption law?
The various structures involved in the fight against corruption have not so far succeeded in the challenge to reduce it. On the contrary, the situation is deteriorating because of various obstacles: Ill-defined areas of responsibility; no power to call for public intervention; a scandalous level of answerability by the hierarchy. In general, the members of these commissions are public employees looking for promotion and prominent members of civil society thirsty for position. They have to do everything possible to stay on the right side of those who have appointed them. Sometimes, all it takes is a single phone call to cancel any steps taken against this or that corrupt individual.
What is more, the morality of some of these members is doubtful. Moïse Albert Njambe goes further: «Many independent observers involved in fighting corruption in Cameroon are themselves corrupt. They are former embezzlers, who have in times past, certified false accounts. They are friends of those whose appoint them and on whom they are supposed to check up».
The true situation today is that corruption is endemic. Nonetheless, all is not lost. Although it has not been eradicated, the plague can be pushed back. The former president of Cameroon’s Bar Council, Lawyer Akere Muna, says: «If we are to conquer corruption in our country, we have to create a law against corruption, and protect the magistrates. Our judicial system is badly equipped and the magistrates have poor physical protection in their task, exposing them to corruption as well».
In the meantime, while waiting for the ad hoc committee, the National Observatory for the Fight Against Corruption, and the anti-corruption cells to take positive action, lawyers twiddle their thumbs and work off steam using their allocated budgets.
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