Over 1,300 aspiring gendarmes, soldiers dismissed over fake certificates.

This information was made known to the public by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Joseph Beti Assomo. It is contained in a communique he signed June 12.

According to the minister, the dismissal of the candidates concerned is the outcome of appropriate checks to authenticate certificates of candidates selected for the process of recruiting young gendarmes and soldiers into the Defence Forces for the 2024 financial year. 

“…as part of the ongoing process of recruiting young gendarmes and soldiers into the Cameroonian Defence Forces for the financial year 2024, the appropriate checks to authenticate the certificates of the candidates selected for the thorough medical examination conducted prior to the publication of the final admission results, have led to the discovery of many false qualifications,” he stated in the communique. 

A total of 1,312 candidates were shown the exit door. Out of the said number, one candidate was discovered with a fake General Certificate of Education, GCE, Advanced Level certificate; 64 with fake GCE Ordinary Level certificates; 12 with fake Probatoire; 491 with fake Brevet d'Études du Premier Cycle, BEPC certificates; and 83 with fake Certificate of Professional Competency better known in French as Certificat d'Aptitude Professionelle, CAP.

The review process also made a discovery of 661 fake BEPC certificates from a neighbouring country. The minister emphasised that as a result of the forgery, the files of all the candidates detected have been removed from the lists, without prejudice to the repressive legal measures in force.

Meanwhile, the 1,312 fake certificates discovered this year reveals a slight increase in the results of a similar operation which in 2022 led to the exclusion of 929 people from the ranks for admission to the Cameroonian Defence Forces.

It should be recalled that the minister had revealed the dismissal of the officers in 2022 during a ceremony to award medals to sports men and women of the Army and Police Force team, FAP, which won medals in three international competitions.

Minister Beti Assomo had explained that the decision was taken after meticulous, long and rigorous verifications with the administrations and institutions in charge of the management of the official examinations both in Cameroon and in the neighbouring countries as well as others countries.

“The Defence Forces and the Gendarmerie cannot admit into their ranks cheats and forgers who try to gain access by illegal means,” he had said, adding that: “The investigators of tomorrow and the defenders of law and order cannot be delinquents with fake certificates, while other deserving young Cameroonians and holders of authentic certificates are left out during competitive entrance exams and recruitments”.

Minister Beti Assomo had further emphasised unequivocally that in accordance with the esteemed instructions of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Paul Biya, they shall apply zero tolerance in the recruitment process into the defence and security forces.

Out of the 929 military cadets dismissed that year, 43 were non-commissioned officers of the Gendarmerie and the Defence Forces, eight officer cadets of EMIA, and 878 soldiers and student gendarmes of the Defence Forces.

According to the minister, the recruits who were already on training in different military training schools were replaced by other deserving Cameroonian on the waiting list. 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3141 of Friday June 14, 2024