By Azore Opio
Following the government's change of mind to tackle wanton corruption, graft and outright theft of public funds, it seems to be moving forward with unprecedented renewed vigour in its efforts to prosecute defaulters and recover stolen property.
Emmanuel Gérard Ondo Ndong, former Director-General of FEICOM, is a living example of one of the important thieves who has been cooped. That was government's first bold step in a long journey. Beyond locking him away, the government has taken another step, albeit a belated one, to pick leftovers from Ondo Ndong's big waste.
Ondo Ndong is not the lone pilferer whom government is after to recover loot, he is accompanied by grand masters of the thieving fraternity - Edouard Etonde Ekoto, former Board Chairman of the Douala Port Authority, PAD, Siyam Siwe, former General Manager of PAD and Gilles Roger Belinga, jailed former General Manager of Cameroon Housing Corporation, SIC.
Of the FCFA 11 billion imputed to Ondo Ndong, from the FCFA 13 billion he stole from FEICOM, only a paltry FCFA 42 million has been recovered - in cash - FCFA 1.3 million from one of his houses, FCFA 6.8 million from his bank account at BICEC and FCFA 34 million from a bank account at BNP Paribas bank in Monaco.
In Siyam Siwe's case, who was found guilty of embezzling FCFA 11 billion alone, some real estate property was confiscated from him and the following peanuts were found in his bank accounts - Afriland; FCFA 5,193.323, BICEC; FCFA 1,255,859, BICEC Yaounde; FCFA 2,292,915, BICEC Yaounde; FCFA 1,320,787, Paribus France; about FCFA 19,259,000 (38,518 Euros) and FCFA 139,000,000 in treasury bonds. Meanwhile, Roger Belinga yielded a meagre amount of the FCFA 3 billion that he stole.
Ondo Ndong and his lawyers acted like men who wanted, in the worst way, to perform a good deed for themselves by trying to convince, in vain, the court to rule as off-limits those assets that he had acquired prior to his appointment as FEICOM General Manager.
A representative of the Ministry of Public Service further dampened the spirit of Ondo Ndong and company by stating that: "assets which have not been seized at this point are not exempted from being hunted down".
As for assets, which the Ondo Ndongs might have concealed under assumed names, State Prosecutor, Christian Ndanga Dogoua, was categorical: "The State has the appropriate means of uncovering them."
Despite the display by the government to combat corruption and the embezzlement of public funds, the important thing is not to wait for a thief to pillage the coffers, but to prevent him/her from depriving millions of taxpayers of a livelihood - prevention is better than cure, so they say.
Cash and property seized from Ondo Ndong - court estimates:
1 Jewellery box
1 Cash valued at FCFA 1,344,500
1 FCFA 6,889,671 in a BICEC account
1 FCFA 34 million at a BNP Paribas Private bank account in Monaco
2 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
1 Mercedes Benz S 320
1 Toyota Land Cruiser VX
1 Toyota Hilux;
1 Peugeot 607
1 Iveco 10-wheel truck
1 Uncompleted building in Simbock in Yaounde on about 7,365 square meters
3 Semi-detached apartments in Biyem Assi in Yaounde
1 Duplex in Mimboman in Yaounde, valued at FCFA 40 million
1 Duplex in Ngousso in Yaounde, renovated with FCFA 45 million
1 Duplex in Fouda, Yaounde, valued at FCFA 60 million
1 Residential house at Ambam renovated at FCFA 70 million
1 Concession at Assandjik renovated at FCFA 70 million
1 Residence at Ambam renovated at FCFA 70 million
1 Commercial real estate complex at Ambam costing FCFA 80 million
1 Real-estate development at Ambam, valued at FCFA 160 million
1 40-room hostel plus two multipurpose halls and one water tower at Soa, valued at FCFA 170 million
1 Residence with a renovated garden and refurbished at FCFA 175 million
1 Duplex in Quartier Golf, Yaounde, valued at FCFA 185 millions
1 Villa on 8000 m2 at Assandjik, valued at FCFA 300 million
1 Three-storey building with eight luxury apartments in Quartier Mballa I (Dragage) Yaounde, valued at FCFA 650 million.
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Ondo Ngong was very good enough to have invested part of his stolen funds in the country. Biya owns a castle in Scotland and who cares about investigating him. Do you guys know how much castles cost here? I am talking here of at least two billion in CFA.
Posted by: rexon | Sunday, 20 January 2008 at 05:26 PM