Cameroon’s 2012 Anti-corruption Status Report shows an improvement in the results.

The National Anti-corruption Commission, NACC received 227 denunciations of corruption acts in 2008, 312 in 2009, 482 in 2010, 1247 in 2011 and 2089 in 2012, Reverend Dr Dieudonné Massi Gams, the Chairman of NACC declared.  

The 2012 denunciation statistics, reveal that a total of 1,077 denunciations came from the Centre Region, representing 51.56 per cent and 281 from the Littoral Region representing 13.45 per cent, indicating that the two regions are high corruption prone areas, Dieudonné Massi Gams said in Yaounde on December 20, 2013 while presiding at the official presentation of Cameroon’s 2012 Anti-corruption Status report.

The 233-page report was presented in the presence of senior government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and civil society organizations.  The report is divided into four parts. Part one deals with anti-corruption activities, part two corruption control activities, part three has to do with suppression of corruption practices and part four devoted to cooperation in the fight against corruption.

Anti-corruption Activities

The Rapid Results Initiative, RRI designed to curb corruption in public and semi-public institutions within 100 days was effectively implemented in 15 ministries and ARMP, representing 16 sectors out of the 17 targeted. The results showed a remarkable reduction in corruption practices. In the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reform for example, between March to July 2012, 10,483 files were processed and 4,410 sent to partner administrations, totaling 14,793 files in 100 Days.

Also over 90 per cent of certificates were validated in 14 Days. In the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, the number of forest controls reduced and the amount of illegal fees paid by truck drivers reduced from FCFA 425,000 to FCFA 125,000. NACC’s Rapid Response Unit fielded several missions on the ground following denunciations, confirmed 17 out of the 22 allegations of corruption acts.  The institution equally intensified communication and awareness creation through its television and radio micro-programme “Espace CONAC” and round table conferences.

Control Activities

The National Anti-corruption Commission essentially conducted administrative and financial audit of the Cameroon Cotton Development Corporation, SODECOTON from April 8 to July 6, 2012 as well as controlled the management of the city councils of the Littoral and West Regions. The startling findings from SODECOTON revealed that the management team of the corporation for the period 2002 to 2011 embezzled FCFA 113,257,210,264. Also, following the findings of NACC teams, a lot of corrupt practices stifled optimal performance of the Douala, Edea and Nkongsamba City Councils in the Littoral and Bafoussam in the West. The case of a Government Delegate who fueled his cars with FCFA 3,500,000 each month, was highlighted.

Economic Surveys

The surveys conducted on the movement of persons and goods on the border between Cameroon and the Central African Republic, CAR revealed serious corruption practices. For example, at Kentzou, NACC officials caught police and gendarmerie officers in the act of collecting illegal fees. At Garoua-Boulai border, NACC team gathered that for movement from Cameroon to CAR, a minimum of approximately FCFA 22,000 is paid by the driver and his assistant.

Another survey conducted in the transport sector indicated corrupt practices in the Overland Freight Management Office and the deliverance of driving licenses.  Investigations in banks, micro-finance institutions and mobile telephone companies enabled the State to recover close to FCFA 10 billion.

Repression Activities

Since October 2012, the Special Criminal Court has entered the annals of history with the speedy handling of cases of corruption and embezzlement of public funds that concern at least FCFA 50 million. It handled 14 cases brought before it. The Budget and Finance Disciplinary Board of the Supreme State Audit Office also meted out sanctions to guilty officials in relation to management errors in the 26 cases it examined. Officials of the General Delegation for National Security, Ministries of Public Health, Trade, Public Service and Administrative Reform and Forestry and Wildlife found guilty of misappropriation and non-compliance with codes of ethics and professional conduct were also sanctioned.