Biya Heads Anti-Corruption Commission

By Clovis Atatah & Kini Nsom

President Paul Biya  Saturday, March 11, signed a Presidential Decree creating a National Anti-Corruption Commission, NAC, with him at the helm. NAC replaces the National Anti-Corruption Observatory, hitherto headed by the Prime Minister. It is an independent public body charged with the responsibility of fighting against corruption. It is headquartered in Yaounde.

It has the powers to investigate cases of corruption. NAC may initiate proceedings to check corrup practices. It will monitor and evaluate the effective implementation of the government Anti-Corruption plan.

Biya’s move came just two days after Parliament began meeting on March 9. MPs across the political spectrum are having high expectations to play a vital role in the ongoing fight against corruption.

MPs from both the ruling CPDM party and the opposition, who spoke with The Post in the corridors of the Glass Palace, said they were expecting government to submit anti-corruption legislation and create parliamentary commissions of enquiry to probe into the management of state coffers.

One of the most awaited bills is the law that will define conditions for the implementation of Article 66 of the 1996 constitution. This constitutional provision requires elected officials and senior office holders to declare their assets at the beginning and end of their tenures of office, as the case may be.

"In the past, we have asked for the implementation of Article 66 of the constitution," said Hon. Sylvester Imbia, CPDM MP from Ndian. "Some of us MPs are willing to talk about our assets," he added.

To Hon. Ayuk Arrey, CPDM MP from Manyu, a law on the application of Article 66 is necessary because it compliments other laws that are already in place to check corrupt practices.

"We should abide by the constitution we have adopted. We like that a law on the implementation of Article 66 comes up," he told The Post. He said Cameroon already has laws to discourage corruption and it is the responsibility of those who are charged with implementing them to do so.

Lone female opposition CDU MP from the Noun Constituency, Hon. Peyipahouo Rirato, concurred: "Article 66 of the constitution should be applied."While agreeing on the need to enact laws to fight corruption, SDF Moungo-Nord Constituency MP, Hon. Dr. Ngetcham (he has no first and middle names) said what is important is implementation.
"I believe in action speaking louder than words," he told this newspaper. "We hope these people will at least finally put in place commissions of enquiry to probe into how funds have been managed over the years."

Biya Encouraged

MPs were generally happy with the recent arrest of some senior state officials on allegations of corruption. They hoped the government would not relent. "We have to encourage the Head of State to continue with what is going on. We know the few people who have been arrested is just a tip of the iceberg," said Hon. Imbia.

Some of the MPs insisted that government should not stop at arresting and prosecuting corrupt officials, but to also ensure that their ill-begotten wealth is confiscated.
Another concern of the MPs is what they consider the miserable economic situation of Cameroonians. They believe confiscating stolen wealth and reaching the HIPC-Initiative Completion Point are central to poverty alleviation.

These are the issues that were essentially in the opening speech of the doyen of the House, Hon. Abba Boukar, CPDM MP from Mayo-Sava, who presides until a new parliamentary bureau is elected for a one-year term renewable.

He congratulated President Paul Biya for his fight against corruption. He said there was a national consensus in support of the ongoing efforts by the President to eliminate the corruption cankerworm.

According to him, the anti-corruption campaign should not be inimical to national solidarity. Instead, he argued, it should reassure Cameroonians at home and attract admiration abroad.

Hon. Abba Boukar was hopeful that Cameroon would soon reach the Completion Point of the HIPC-Initiative. He emphasised the sacrifices Cameroonians have made over the years due to the difficult economic times, adding that ongoing reforms should help move things forward.

The National Assembly doyen equally called on government to develop the agricultural sector and to create structures to take care of the youth.

Implement Article 66

In the corridors of the National Assembly, some MPs say they will be surprised if government does not submit the bill on the implementation of Article 66. One MP said he has it on good authority that government will submit a bill on Article 66 and one on an independent electoral commission.

It is not yet clear when the Bureau of the National Assembly will be elected. Traditionally, it happens after the politburo of the CPDM meets to designate members of the bureau. There is, however, the general belief in Parliament that the Bureau will not witness any significant change.

Comments

[SirMukumu]

All this hell that Biya is raising about fighting corruption is mere camouflage.
Mr Biya,if you want to fight corruption in Cameroon,
1)Implement Article 66 of the constitution
2)Try all the arested persons first and convict them
3)Let the National Assembly creat a commission of Inquiry to probe into the management of petroleum money and the assets of your ministers.
Anything short of this is just a smoke screen to stealthily get cameroon to the completion point of HIPCI

[Navigae Dungta]

This government is making a serious mockery of Cameroon and all Cameroonians.

What has Biya ever done that the PMs did not congratulate him?
New Constituition-Congrats!
Even if not implemented-Congrats!
Created Neo-Congrates!
No NEO was really not independent, replace it-Congrats!
Arrest a few enemies for corruption-Congrats
The first anti-corruption council that did nothing-Congrats!
Now this new one-Congrats!
Faked his death-Congrats!

Why shouldn't he have a big empty head. Anything he says even contrary to the one before, he gets a golden hand shake and claps.

How can one man ruin a country, a generation and reign such havoc?

[Tonyman]

The MPs have nothing to say than encourage the number 1 thief to arrest his friends. Biya is tying his own hands--after arresting his cronies, we Cameroonians will arrest him.

The Siyam Siwes have much to tell Cameroonians about the whole thieving mafia gang. Biya and his anus-poking friends won't allow the guy speak. Watch and see.

Biya knows who he singles out for arrest. He can't touch his anus-covenant friends. He will be going against their confraternity and occultic rules. Those who have eyes, let them see. Those who have ears, let them hear.

[tita espoir]

this NAC stuff is a good move.but this might be just a strategy by biya to reposition cameroon to the world.if he is serious about this corruption fighting body,it must be an independent body headed by someone qualified.to my opinion cameroon needs some surt of trained military personelles,who are trained to investigate,arrest,compile neccessary evidence for final trial of this corrupt individuals.to my opinion itlives some doubts in the air how biya of all people can led this commission.who is going then to investigate him?cameroon needs a feared anti corruption squard.

[wallyman]

this fellow who is called Paul biya thinks he is deceiving who?he is playing one of those old tricks we already know.a chef bang heading an anti-bandit commission.well he can fool some of the people all the time but he cannot fool all the people all the time.it is a matter of time.if December meets him as the head of state of la république then he has tried.his days are counted.why should a man and a his clique decide to ruin a nation of above 16 million people.well God is watching and will surely act soon to the favour of the common man.lets keep watching the drama.

[Watesih]

Biya,to be head of an anti-corruption commission!This man is really taking Cameroonians for granted.After asking " ou sontles preuves " he finally came out with "Il faut que cela cesse!".What was he refering to? How can he pretend to fight corruption when he is surrounded by dark
forces fighting to keep his soul in ignominy.This forces it must be noted are at the head of powerful clans.Corruption cannot be effectively fought when the trickle-down effect of clannish omnipresence
is so acute.
Come to think that since he came to the helm of affairs in 1982,Biya has had about 20 governments with an overall capacity of about 3oo ministers and about
100 Directors at the head of Para-public
interprises.He has put in place one of the poorest political invironments in the world
All these ministers and junior ministers have their bootlickers,families,mistresses,
tribal and esoteric movements to entertain.
When honey keeps flowing,all these people and groups can only ask for more.It is therefore no surprise that the fabulous sums of money swindled are directed into different channels with different appellations.By using all types of names to open bank accounts in foreign countries,
much of the money deposited cannot be accounted for or traced when some of them
subsequently pass on.This was the case with Mobutu,Bokassa,Sani Abacha.
Since the military coup of April 6 1984,Biya has been reduced to a plaything in the hands of the military heirarchy in
Cameroon.The Generals ,Colonels are some
type of Ministers .A soldier has never been a moral man,so how would they not reign with impunity when they discover that there`s no authoritative presence to check their zeal.They are the ones who own all the wood exploitation companies in the country.When it comes to treating the salaries of civil servants in Cameroon,these
men in uniform give the impression to be living in a fairy island ,looking down from their Shangrila with bemused indifference.
Their situation with Biya is that of,"You allow me to feed fat and i will protect you"
Now that Mr Biya is walking down the last mile of his life and knowing fully well that he has nothing to lose,he comes out happing about corruption.There`s actually nothing at stake to make him jittery.The Opposition is suffering from
prolonged internal wranglings and he has a new mandate and is only at the 18th out of 84 months to implement his "Grandes ambitions".
His NAC is supposed to be made up of 11 members who presumably should have a free hand to bring those who have been misappropriating our resources to book.But Biya is not a man to be trusted.He is going to pull out some of the old vampires that have been on standby like Mbella and ask his CRTV to turn any of their activities into a singsong.If he is out to fight corruption,let him see to it that Cardinal
Tumi,Pius Njawe,Akere Muna,Carlson Anyangwe,
Simon Monzu,Lawyer Sama,Peter Essoka are part of his so called Commission,and not fencesitters like Nico Halle.

[samuel]

Biya head anti-corruption commission.wanders shall never end in cameroon.who does he think he is fooling.

[tita espoir fombang]

wstersih,this president of ours has got much at stake.that is way he might be pretending to fight coruption or he might be fighting corruption.but the question is, is this prsdident of ours serious?i douht.maybe this guy might be serious,what have we got to lose, lets watch him with this strategy.maybe he has realised himself.cameroonians are tired of nonsence.be warned biya.and if fru ndi wants our support he must push the genuine fight against corruption.period...................love,peace and prosperity to all fellow cameroonians and africans.we shall win.if u know what i mean.love and peace.

[Jacob Tambe]

People, how can Biya, the king and keeper of corruption in Cameroon head a commission fighting the same scourge? Nonsense. This is another clear indication that the Biya regime, like a leopard can't change it's spots. Biya could not trust anyone else to shield his shady dealings and decided to seat at the helm of the body so he can decide who to sacrifice for PR reasons and who to maintain.

[ngwazak]

I think we have been down this road before and there was no result as such.Times have changed and Biye should be aware that cameroonians have grown really matured to pay service to this "window dressing" policies which are out to please the west.Before God and man we all know this anti corruption drive will come to nothing as usual,just like every other project or policy that he has carried out for the past two decades.The reason for the failures are numerous and very open for all to see.How can a man who has embezzelled huge sums of money go after his friends who have embezzelled pennies.It does not make sense.We all know his hand has been forced in to this by the western governments as a pre-requisite for giving him more loans or debt cancellation.A word to those governments who are will to give this president more money or a life line is that mr Biya will release his friends once the money is in his accout.
If the west really want this corruption to stop,they should be thinking of repatriating the huge sums of money that have been banked in their countries by our unscrupulous heads of state.They should not allow them to bank monies in their banks,as such there will be no place for them to starch away the stolen funds of their countries.But i know this is wishful thinking,because the western governments know that,it is these monies banked by the african heads of states that make their banks have liquid assets.need i say more.Where is Abacha's money????where is Bokassa's money??where is mombutu's money?? the list is inexhaustible.the time will come.che sera sera

[Ngwana]

Its terrible what is happening in Cameroon. What kind of injustice is this when you have MP's congratulate Biya for arresting people they consider corrupt. How can you arrest someone for more than a month without filing charges? There are many people in jail now without any charges filed against them. How can we say we are heading towards civilisation when people get arrested without a chance to defend themselves. what about the other individuals on the list of Cameroons billionaires? what has been done to investigate and proof guilt? Arresting, somebody without giving the person a fair trial is against the law and needs to stop. Ofcourse the MP'S will congratulate Biya because they are corrupt themselves and are hiding under his coat

[Ngwana]

How can a dishonest crook like Biya claim to be the head of a commitee to fight corruption. This makes it a corrupt organisation. Biyas days are numbered and time will come when he will be tried for his dishonesty. The whole system will never change with Biya as leader. For 24 years he has not been able to fight corruption, why would he claim to start now? what is at stake for him? He has no legacy in Cameroon. The country is becoming worse everyday with his presence. He just made arrests of a few people and also arrested a few innocent people in the process, he put them in jail without even giving them a chance to fair trial. When will Mr Biya officially file charges against the individuals he arrested? Will he just leave them in jail and forget about them without any charges?

[MAG, E.A.]

How innocent are the Anti-Corruption Commission members including the man at the helm of the commission!

[Ngum]

in a country so soaked in corruption, is there a single honest person? but then dirty biya, the corrupter himself has to be a comedian to think this up.

[Roki of Shanghai]

The only way for Biya to catch the boys he trained is by becoming the head of the Cameroon "FBI" for corruption.This Biya guy is a genius. He definitely knows his game.

[Terry Yong]

Some times people do things thinking that they're offering their best to the masses under their wimps and caprices. Most important of what they fail to consider is the simple fact that they are insinuating dangerous reactions from sleeping dogs. I would really want to believe that the Honorable stooge of La Republique Francaise has lost touch with reality and is at the verge of hallucination.Now he considers us lunatics because of our docile nature.He wants to "fancify" us with his so called National Crimes commission.He doesn't only make himself head of this commission but showers himself and others with immunity with regards to the actions of that commission.Does this man really think we're fools.
Fellow brothers of our Beloved Southern cameroons,I implore you all to blind yourselves to the shady developments and happenings of that shit republique and concentrate on how we would liberate ourselves for true.We wouldn't get freedom until we fight relentlessly to the end.

[Ndiks]

British PM Urged To Correct Mistakes in Cameroon
People reiterate their inalienable right to exist as a free people

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=277646&rel_no=1

[SJ]

THIS PIECE APPEARS ON WWW.DIBUSSI.COM
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The Messi Messi Afair (2): “The Interview that Shook the World”

By Dibussi Tande

In an explosive interview that filled 24 pages (Jeune Afrique Economie. "Ainsi a été Pillé la SCB," May 1992, pp. 106-130), Robert Messi Messi, the former General Manager of the bankrupt SCB sang like a canary. Using documents that he had smuggled out of the country, he detailed how the “Presidential couple” and their entourage had pillaged the SCB.

Messi Messi described the IGERA charges against him as “fanciful accusations”. He insisted that the 49 billion FCFA that was supposedly missing from SCB coffers was “pure fabrication”, and that the bank never had that kind of money at any given time. Messi Messi revealed that the money he was being accused of having embezzled was part of the 3.5 billion FCFA taken from the bank by President Biya and his wife, Jeanne Irene, mainly to construct the president’s private palace in his village of Mvomeka’a.

According to Messi Messi, the presidential couple had unrestricted access to SCB funds and made liberal use of that access. He described how the First Lady would summon him regularly to the Presidential palace with demands to have cash directly withdrawn from SCB coffers. According to Messi Messi, she was the one who oversaw the payments to Olivier Cacoub, the Franco-Tunisian architect who constructed the Mvomeka’a palace. A first installment of 500 million FCFA was paid to Cacoub in March 1988 and a second, totaling roughly 1.2 billion FCFA, was paid in August. A third installment was supposed to be paid on September 15 of that same year. Another 299 million FCFA was used to construct a landing strip in the President’s village.

According to Messi Messi, all these financial transactions occurred without the knowledge of either the Ministry of Finance or the Central Bank: “I worked directly with Etoudi Palace”, he insisted
Messi Messi confessed that due to pressure from the President and his wife, he granted astronomical loans to individuals in their inner circle who had no means to repay them, prominent among these, was Dr. Edzoa Titus, Biya’s personal doctor at the time, and the garrulous General Aso’o Emane Benoit. Hel also mentioned the account of another Presidential protégée, Mva’a Albert, which was in the red for the whopping sum of 3.551.149.501 FCFA at the time Messi Messi left the bank. Aze’e Jeremie who was in charge of the Presidential poultry farm had an authorization granting him unlimited and unrestricted access to the bank’s cash reserves.

Messi Messi claimed that other loans were granted to various members of the Presidential family through sheer “nepotism” and “favoritism”. For example, about 70 million FCFA was given to Marie Mengue, the President’s younger sister, to construct a villa in Yaounde.
Messi Messi also gave examples of raw cash being withdrawn from the bank on the first lady’s instructions:

400 million FCFA was given to Maitre Kack Kack, a CPDM alternate Member of Parliament, to purchase a piece of land for Mrs. Biya, and to construct a villa for himself in Yaounde. The villa was later rented out to the German Ambassador.
200 million FCFA was withdrawn from the bank to pay for the death celebrations of Biya’s elder brother, including the construction of his tombstone and marble mausoleum;

Funds were also withdrawn to construct the residential quarters of the Presidential Guards in Mvomeka’a, including luxurious guest apartments, golf course, etc., etc

Chickens come to roost

According to Messi Messi, in August 1988, Sardou Hayatou, then Minister of Finance, informed him that experts from Credit Lyonais, a French bank which was interested in buying the moribund SCB would soon perform an audit of the SCB. Messi Messi said that he immediately called Mrs. Biya to inform her that they were “in a difficult situation”. He recommended that she either ask Hayatou to postpone the audit, or look for funds elsewhere to take care of the SCB deficit, even if only temporarily. Messi Messi says he was shocked when the very next day, the first lady instead sent her henchman, Mr. Mva’a Albert, demanding that he (Messi Messi) make another trip to Paris to deposit more funds into Cacoub’s account. Messi Messi claims he refused.

Two days later, sometime between August 24 and 25th, two metal trunks containing 1.5 billion FCFA were delivered to the SCB from the Presidency, to partially close up the SCB deficit.

And on August 28, 1988, Messi Messi was fired.

The Escape

On how and why he left Cameroon, Messi Messi claimed that sometime in 1989, the story of the SCB swindle leaked out, and he became the topic of conversation within the Yaounde jet set. He was summoned by Jean Fochive the head of Cameroon’s secret police, the Centre National de la Documentation et de la Recherche (CENER). Fochive informed him that the President was “very disturbed” by the SCB rumors, and demanded that Messi Messi turn over all documents concerning his dealings with Jeanne Irene Biya.

Suspecting that he was about to become the fall guy for the SCB debacle, Messi Messi asked Fochive for time to put the documents together. He then moved his family out of the country, while he clandestinely left for Geneva via Garoua and Niger. “I escaped because I feared that what had been done to Lawyer Ngongo and Father Mbassi could be done to me”.

National Outrage

Once the Messi Messi Interview became public knowledge, the reaction across the country was one of incredulity, shock and anger.

The mood in the country was best captured by an editorial in the English of Le Messager (Vol. II No. 18, May 11, 1992) which described the scandal as a “repulsive and revulsive… story of blatant, arrogant looting by the first couple”:

"We in this newspaper are advocating that judiciary procedures be opened and that the president of the republic be impeached. The President has betrayed the confidence reposed on him by the population; in the eyes of the many, Biya is a white collar thief… Mr. Biya should speak out while the courts do their job. For this to happen, Art. 34 of the constitution… should be invoked… The court of Impeachment shall have jurisdiction in respect of acts performed by the President of the Republic for high treason and the Ministers and Vice Ministers for conspiracy against the security of the state."

A Challenge Hebdo editorial (No. 69 du 6 mai 1992) was equally scathing:

"After reading the interview we are ashamed. Ashamed for our country, ashamed for our intellectuals. A brilliant senior executive such as Messi Messi transformed into a ‘wretched errand boy’… What decay! What baseness! Yesterday it was piece of land that was stolen, today it is a bank that is pillaged… the image of our leaders reminds us of Emah Basile’s garbage bins on a rainy day. We are nauseated…”

But the President never responded to calls for an explanation of what happened really at the SCB. However, two Months later, Augustine Kontchou the Government spokesman and Minister of Communications was querried in Parliament about the President' silence. The spokesman explained the President's silence thus: As head of state, President Biya “cannot and should not” talk to the media every time a newspaper says something about him. Most importantly, as Head of the Supreme Council for Magistracy, President Biya found it difficult to comment on such a personal issue without leaving the impression that he intended to influence the course of justice. Hence, as long as the courts are still working on the Messi Messi dossier, it would be wrong for the President to speak. “This affair is a well orchestrated attempt at disinformation and manipulation”, the Minister concluded.
President Biya's silence did not however mean that the Government was taking the accusations lying down. On the contrary!

To be continued...