Editorial: President Biya should appoint commission for asset declaration.

On April 25, 2006, the Cameroon Parliament passed "Law N° 3-2006, Relating to the Declaration of Assets".

It requires government officials to declare their assets and properties, which must be done within 90 days after their appointment, and 60 days after they leave office.

The "assets should be movable, immovable, tangible and intangible assets belonging to themselves, their spouses or minor descendants and whether these assets and properties are in or out of Cameroon".

The declarations should be made as indicated in the law to the Assets and Property Declaration Commission, with members appointed for five years by a presidential decree.

They will before taking office, swear an oath at the Supreme Court to "exercise their duties with objectivity and integrity and to secretly keep all information which they know during the exercise of their duties".

What is left to be done is for the Head of State to appoint members of the commission for the following to declare their wealth, with him being an example.

They are by that 2006 law; the Prime Minister, Members of Government and persons ranking as such, the President and Members of the Bureau of the National Assembly, the President and Members of the Bureau of the Senate, Members of Parliament, Senators, all holders of an elective office, Secretaries General of Ministries and persons ranking as such, Directors of Central Administration, General Managers of public and semi-public enterprises.

Others are judicial and legal officers, administrative personnel in charge of the tax base, collection, and handling of public funds, all managers of public votes and property, shall declare their assets and property at the beginning and the end of their tenure of office.

So, why has it taken 18 years when the bill was passed in parliament and promulgated into law without the members of the commission being appointed?

Is it because the top government and its top political officials required to declare their wealth perceive such a commission as shooting themselves on the foot or setting a trap that will entangle them?

The International Monetary Fund, lMF, has once again been exerting fresh pressure on the government to boost its anti-corruption fight, insisting on the need for the implementation of Article 66 of the constitution on assets declaration.

IMF’s call is contained in a Country Report No. 24/237, made public recently. It analyses details on diverse areas of the country’s economy

The IMF quipped that for Cameroon’s fight against corruption to hit expected heights, the “implementation of the asset declaration law must be respected”.

Truth be told, corruption remains pervasive and endemic in the country, which in two consecutive years, Cameroon was ranked by Transparency International, TI, as the most corrupt country in the world.

Since then, though there has been some amelioration, thanks to the under-staffed National Anti-Corruption Commission, the vice continues to spike.

Cameroon’s Anti-Corruption Status Report of October 27, 2023, revealed that financial loss suffered by the government as a result of acts of corruption and related offences, was an alarming 4, 623,418,918 FCFA.

Many articulate commentators say the IMF has been just a toothless bulldog in calling for the fight against corruptio in Cameroon. 

There are 28 African countries where asset declarations are implemented.

Paradoxically, IMF works with 20 countries in the continent, including Cameroon, where the anti-corruption mechanism is a dead letter, making its conditionalities widely debated.

Over time, the IMF has been subjected to a range of criticisms, generally focused on the conditions of its loans. The IMF has also been criticised for its lack of accountability and willingness to lend to countries with bad human rights and governance records and in the process setting austerity conditions that favour only the Bretton Woods institutions rather than the lending poor nations.

Jeffrey Sachs, the Head of the Harvard Institute for International Development, has noted that: “…it defies logic to believe the small group of 1,000 economists on 19th Street in Washington should dictate the economic conditions of life to 75 developing countries with around 1.4 billion people”. 

Since "beggars have no choice", as the adage goes, Cameroon is a trusted client of the IMF, which should, if truly it wants to assist in the development of the country, ensure Yaounde respects its own law on the declaration of assets. 

The Cameroon government, which has the tendency to borrow for its development projects, will certainly ameliorate its governance and human rights records, if the lenders insist on declaration of assets and respect for human rights and democratic values.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3180 of Friday July 26, 2024