When fake chiefs, land-grabbers take corruption crown.

In presenting last year's Anti-Corruption Status Report on October 27 in Yaounde, the Chairman of National Anti-Corruption Commission, CONAC, Rev Dr Dieudonne Massi Gams, divulged that of the 3,472 denunciations, the largest number of complaints came from the State Property and Land Tenure sector, followed by territorial administration with regards to chieftaincy, corruption, finance, education and public contracts sectors in that order.

He added that last year, CONAC received 7,061 reports, compared to 6,705 in 2021, showing an increase of 356 cases of complaints. He said a total of 2,603 of the reports were received via CONAC’s toll-free number, 1517, while 3,472 were received via administrative mail, 565 by e-mail and 401 through WhatsApp.

Of those complaints, the CONAC Chairman said, sanctions, ranging from warnings to dismissals were slammed on 18 State employees. 

Rev Dr Massi Gams added that 77 private companies were also excluded from public contracts for two years while 34 other companies were suspended from all logging activities for corruption. 

In addition, he said,121 students were suspended for examination fraud in universities and other higher institutions of learning.

Court judgments, ranging from fines and prison terms from 10 years to life imprisonment, were also meted out on culprits, the CONAC boss explained.

“We hope that this trend will continue in the years ahead,” he said, while calling on Regional and Local Authorities, “whose commitment to the fight against corruption has so far been timid,” to step up to the plate.

The Guardian Post is delighted that CONAC has noted the trepidation in the fight against corruption and embezzlement of funds in councils. 

Since the conflict in the North West and South West Regions started, many of the councils have not been carrying out investment projects. 

Many mayors like in Lebialem Division of the South West Region, for instance, are not resident there, operating from Dschang, in the West Region, yet, their financial reports have indicated executing investment projects even by 100 percent!

Rev Dr Massi Gams said more emphasis on the fight against corruption will be laid in rural areas in order to involve them in the national fight against the scotch.

It is commendable that CONAC is taking the fight to council level. We do understand it is working on a shoe-string budget and insufficient staff to effectively carry out such a risky and daunting assignment, but there are other civil society organisations and patriotic individuals ready to assist in the fight.

We are delighted that CONAC received 129 external contributions for the report, compared to 96 received in 2021, which is indicative of the concerns of civil society. 

“This is the highest number of contributions ever recorded for an Annual Report,” the Chairman stated.

With Barrister Akere Muna's Now Movement, which recently trained some youth from all ten Regions, to tackle corruption at grassroots level, we hope the number of external complaints will increase this year, given the high rate of corruption.

Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, at the same period CONAC was presenting its report, gave Cameroon a humiliating score of 26 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). 

When ranked by score, Cameroon ranked 142nd among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.

It is therefore clear that at this rate of corruption, the country cannot develop, not to talk of emerging in 2035 as middle-income economy. 

There is still much work to be done, especially by the government, represented by ministers who should set the trend in fighting corruption from the top down.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case. How could only 27 ministries contribute to the report, down from 29 in 2022? Rev Dr Massi Gams, however, expressed regrets about the lack of contribution from the Ministries of Defence, Territorial Administration, Energy and Water Resources, State Property, Survey and Land Tenure and Secondary Education, which have been indicted in the report as some of the champions of illicit wealth.

Their failure to make a contribution illustrates the tepid political will of the government to fight corruption. But CONAC is not giving up. 

The Guardian Post encourages its indefatigable Chairman, Rev Dr Dieudonne Massi Gams. He needs the full support of the civil society to pile more heat on Yaounde to give the body autonomous powers to arrest and prosecute suspects. 

The bottom line, however, remains government's inability to respect Article 66 of the constitution for top officials to declare their assets before taking office and after office, which is the only proof of illustrating a genuine political will to curb corruption in Cameroon.