CONAC Publishes 2018 Corruption Report

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Yaounde

Rev. Dieudonne Massi Gams presiding CONAC session

The National Anti-corruption Commission, CONAC, has published a damning report on the situation of corruption in the country for the year 2018 which indicates the state has lost FCFA 40 billion.

                The revelation was made public 19 December 2019 in Yaounde by CONAC’s chairman, Rev. Dr. Dieudonne Massi Gams in a ceremony organized to present the corruption report of the commission on the situation of Corruption in year 2018 at the Yaounde Conference Centre.  

                The summary of the in-depth report as presented by the Chairman indicated that the state lost close to FCFA 40 billion in 2018 as a result of funds been diverted from their initial objectives. Massi Gams said despite the huge lost, they commission remains optimistic as their actions led to the recovery of FCFA 4 billion across the different jurisdictions.

                The report also indicates that in 2018, the commission registered some 24,000 cases of denunciations compared to 3,000 in 2017 with more than 4,000 of the denunciations transmitted via email and other electronic means while more than 18,000 were registered on the Commission's toll-free number.

                CONAC in the recent report accused the Limbe City Council, LCC, of anomalies that have caused the state an overall financial loss estimated at over FCFA 9 billion. Of the amount, CONAC reports that CFA 9 billion 240 million 829 thousand 996 francs was lost at the Limbe City Council as uncovered by an investigative mission that visited the institution while FCFA 180 million was lost at the Nkometou Tollgate Post, 14 million 849 thousand 850 francs at the Bafia District Hospital and FCFA 3 million at the Parent Teachers Association of Government High School Obala.

                To recall is the fact that in February 2016 workers of the Limbe City Council used a caterpillar to prevent the CONAC investigation team from carrying away official documents (files) of the council which were considered as ‘dirty’ by the commission to Yaoundé.

                The CONAC team had arrived at City Council on Tuesday 2 February 2016 to begin a routine control mission. Media reports had it that the CONAC team asked for documents for every contract the council had given out between 2010 and 2015, minutes of council sessions and other financial transactions the council carried out within the same period.

                The trouble is said to have started when the team informed the council Secretary General that they were taking away the documents to Yaoundé. But Arrey Nkongho, the SG is said to have objected on grounds that CONAC could not take away the original copies of their documents to Yaoundé proposing that only photocopies be taken and not originals.

                The argument that followed brought out the Government Delegate, Motanga Andrew Monjimba who is said to have tried in vain to settle the issue with the CONAC team. Even efforts from late Fako SDO at the time, Zang III, were futile as CONAC took away all the council’s documents in its possession.