How Should The Declaration Of Assets Be Conducted?

Compiled By Chris Mbunwe, Kini Nsom, Joe Dinga Pefok, Francis Tim Mbom & Olive Ejang

Government Should Confiscate Goods

The declaration of assets should be made when a person is appointed, before he takes the oath of office, or it could be done in the course of taking the oath. Those arrested should not declare because they are already accused of a criminal offence and it is not for them to declare their assets again.    

Investigation has to continue to disclose the ill-gotten wealth. There should equally be forfeiture against them according to section 30 of the Cameroon Penal Code, CPC. The government should also confiscate all their traced property according to section 35 of the CPC.

If found guilty, the embezzlers should be jailed and the judgments made public, according to section 33 (new) of Law No 93-013 of 22nd December 1993 of accessory penalties. I think if this is done, it would serve as a deterrent to others.
Barrister Patrick Enu Atem-Anya,Revelation Law Chambers, Kumba

Should Be Investigated Upon
The investigation commission should note that the already accused embezzlers couldn't declare their assets but have to be investigated upon. The investigation has to go with their salary situation, number of years at work and see if the money is commensurate to their assets.

If Article 6 of the January 1996 constitution on declaration of assets were taken into effect, it would have been easy to know the assets of state officials from the period they took over office. I think if the present accused embezzlers or those to be, hide some of their assets, government should enforce its investigation and if found guilty of hidden assets, administrative sanctions should be meted together with termination of service and the person be sent to the law court.
Barrister Eyong Achare Tabot,Bonafide Law Chambers, Kumba

It Should Be Transparent And Visible To All
   Yes if you talk about the declaration of assets, it means you want a modicum of transparency and accountability. If you talk about transparency, you cannot talk about a secret declaration of assets. It is a contradiction in terms.

The best th ing is that the declaration should be open. It should be an open forum where everybody says what he/she has and if it is a lie the public can challenge that person. People who are advocating secret declaration of assets have skeletons in their cupboards.
Barrister Henry Ngale Monono,Limbe

Declaration Should Be Done In Public
The greatest disappointment with the declaration of assets is that it will be done in secret. If this turns out to be the case, then nothing would have changed with the coming of the commission.

Those to hold public office should declare their assets in public. By public, I mean at the tribunals or courts of the land, and should be done on oath. The declaration should be done in open court sessions, so that members of the public should assist and thus know what a person about to take up public office has as property at that time.

So should the exercise be done again when the person has to leave office, or even when a person is still in office and there is any suspicion or accusation. is worth noting that  the first clarion call that came out to warn Cameroonians that the Biya regime was stealing as if the world was going to end soon, was made by  Issa  Adoum  on April 6, 1984. But he was executed. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
John Ndangle Kumase Bonaberi  (Douala 1V) SDF Councillor of Bonaberi Municipal Council

Declare In Public
The public has to know what property an individual has and the source of the assets, before taking over office.Those caught in the embezzlement net should be dragged to court to prove if they are guilty or not, because it would be too late for them to declare their assets. If the accused are found guilty, the assets in question should all be seized.
Barrister Epie Nzuonkwelle,Remedium Law Firm, Kumba

Structure Should Be Transparent
I have taken a look at the draft bill and to say the least, it is not within the spirit of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, which Cameroon ratified barely last month. First of all, there is a lot of secrecy that surrounds the execution of the law. It is absolutely irrational and illogical, to talk of confidentiality in the declaration of assets, by somebody who wants to occupy a public office.

If somebody does not want to declare his/her asset publicly, then he/she should not hold public office. Also in the draft bill, there is a lot of power concentrated in the hands of the President of Republic. The law should be such that it would make the Cameroonian public know that the structure is not just a smoke screen.

It should be independent and work in close collaboration with the judiciary. Also, the structure should have branches all over the country. The body should also have the capacity to, when necessary, seize ill-gotten property, sell them, and put the money in the state treasury.
Barrister Roland Abeng Abeng's Law Firm, Douala,Member of International Criminal Bar

Declaration Should Be Public
The inventory of property owned by state officials before they take office should be made public because for a long time now, we have been in a system where there is no accountability. It is equally important that they declare their assets too, when they are leaving office. This will enable the public to know if they have misappropriated what was entrusted to them for the benefit of the entire public or not.
Barrister Evelyn Awah,Ambilichu Law Firm, Limbe

Commission Should Be Transparent
The issue of confidentiality defeats the very essence of the declaration and property. The Commission should work in total transparency.  The chairman of the declaration commission should be a neutral person. This person should be elected by members of the Commission and not appointed by the Head of State. The chairman of the Commission should have total independence. Again, the business of the Commission should be open to the public. The public should be the watchdog and should have an opinion on the Commission.
David Tamo, Barrister At Law, Yaounde

The Law Is Mere Declaration
I have perused the draft bill on the declaration of assets by holders of public office. I must say if it is adopted and promulgated into law in its present form, it will be devoid of teeth because it does not make provision for sanctions in case of violation. The law is a mere declaration. It should have been a law of execution. I think declaration of assets should be made under oath.

This is so that anybody who attempts to violate will be breaching an oath, which is sanctionable. Moreover, the bill is not what we call in law "grande norme" because it still refers us to decrees. So even if it is adopted by Parliament, there must be a Presidential decree to it to have the force of law. Also we do not know whether this law will be retroactive. What of public officials who have amassed illegal wealth, will the law go back to them to declare their assets?
Barrister Ngu Gordon Mwambo, Juris Consul Law Firm, Buea

Transparency Needed
The Commission to carry out the declaration of assets of public servants should make sure there is a good audience to listen and attest to these declarations. If the declaration of assets is open to the public, people will react when such declarations are not exhaustive.
Barrister Peter Dinga Lang (Lang-Asih Chambers Bamenda)

Declaration Should Be Made Public
What we hear at the moment is that there will be a lot of confidentiality surrounding the application or procedure for the application of Article 66. That is worrying because the main issue with corruption is transparency, and transparency also means disclosure. So if you hide all the information under the banner of confidentiality, then what sense does that make?

We should be going now towards a situation of total and compulsory disclosure. Banks are supposed to inform the monetary authorities of all deposits, which are suspicious. I think if they insist on confidentiality, it is just going to water down the whole issue and make it more or less valueless.

My proposal is that the declaration should be made public. And if there are reactions, there may be other persons in the public who know the assets of the declarant that he/she may be hiding. The punitive measures against those who would not corporate with the commission are not deterrent enough.

I expect them to be harder. One of them is that if you are called up to a public office and you do not declare your assets or you make false declaration, there should be a criminal sanction to it.      
Ernest Duga Titanji, Barrister At Law, Yaounde

I am Pessimistic 1
As far as I am concerned, I am very pessimistic about the whole exercise for the following reasons; Cameroonians are so deep in corruption that they can always device any means to counter what move the government makes. Secondly, in Cameroonian context, it is difficult to ascertain the property of an individual particularly as we have extended families and we are used to acquiring property and registering them in the name of relatives.

Thirdly, it is difficult to ascertain the ownership of unregistered landed property, which is not covered by a land certificate. Looking at underdevelopment of Cameroon, I don't see how this exercise of declaration of assets can work. Except that the state institutions have to be properly put in place. If not, I don't see us achieving the goal.
Barrister Z A Nchifor

Commission Should Be Independent
Declaration of assets can only be effective when those concerned are honest. But we know who Cameroonians are. The tendency is that those in the commission and those to face them might try to falsify the information. To solve this problem, the commission should be independent and non-partisan. You will recall that this exercise was carried out successfully in 1975 by one Nigerian ruler, Motala Mohamed.

He created independent commissions in the divisions or what is known over there as local government areas, not even limiting them to the provinces or States. This is because, for example, nobody of the commission in Yaounde will claim to know about somebody's assets in Nkambe or Ako. Those to be chosen as commission members should not be embezzlers but men and women of integrity.

Also, the declaration of assets should not only end with civil servants. Ordinary people who know about the assets of these civil servants should be allowed to swear to an affidavit in court. This is what was done in Nigeria to Omarou Diko who joined government only with a beetle (Volkswagen), but the population was embarrassed that in just two years, he acquired four planes (jets).
Dr. Emmanuel Azie Tange (Corner Stone Vision Centre Bamenda)

Annual Declaration
Assets should be carried out on a yearly basis. Get a format; get your family status and the amount of money you have in your account. The commission should be independent not responsible to the legislative arm of the government or executive. The members of the commission should carry an odd number. The government can appoint members of the civil society, political parties represented in parliament and even a member or two from government who has been tested corruption free and morally upright.
Barrister Victorine Sonkwa,Bamenda

Lack Of Political Will
As far as I see it, the proposals made by the Cameroon government, show that there is a lack of political will to put in place an institution that will, in a way, verify the assets of public officials. For the declaration of assets to be meaningful, it ought to target not only the assets of the public officials as declared by them, but also to target how they acquired such assets. Nobody should be left out.

In fact, the President of the Republic should set the example. He should declare his assets and how he acquired them. Thereafter, all other public officials should do same. The intention is that those who aspire to public office should be men of some reasonable or perceptible probity.

There ought to be a body put in place, an institutional framework to which these declarations should be made, with the power to investigate, to prosecute, or take measures to recover public assets or resources, which have been siphoned unduly by certain individuals. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case.

And even if such an institutional framework were to be put in place, the persons who themselves should be able to occupy positions in it should have security of tenure; should be men of some perceptible integrity. Security of tenure ensures that the people would have no worry that a Presidential decree could dismiss them; or that they could be influenced; or that they belong to political parties.

I think what the government is proposing, does not amount to that. On the contrary, it encourages people who stole from the public treasury in the past; who occupy positions by a Presidential decree or who were elected to public office through flawed elections, to legalise or give a legal coverage to the assets they stole or plundered.

The appropriate thing to do is to first put in place an institutional framework with security of tenure and made of people with some degree of probity: like religious leaders, retired judges, some journalists, the Bar Association, a few magistrates, these people who come from reasonable backgrounds including some students unions - I think that would be the appropriate forum. 

For citizens to make fair declarations, there should also be provision to encourage those who looted public property to voluntarily, give back this property to the state; repatriate the money they kept in foreign banks. They could be given a period of grace or some amnesty if the institution recovers what these people have stolen.
     

Comments

[Ma Mary]

big joke. Only recently did Daddy France use commissions to investigate corruption. The whole concept was decidely alien to them. The President in Thief of the french republique routinely frustrates judges who run these commissions. Remember cameroun and other similar slave states cannot innovate, but must stay a century behind the master. What a dreadful waste of time.

Again Southern Cameroonians, do not waste your time even thinking about this. GET OUT!