By DOH JAMES SONKEY
The Chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Commission better known by its French acronym as CONAC, Rev Dieudonne Massi Gams has complained publicly that their 78 staff strength, 25 of which are senior staff in charge of treating files has become insufficient to effectively fight corruption in Cameroon due to an exponential increase in the number of denunciation cases.
Rev Dieudonne Massi Gams made the startling revelation last December 22, 2017 at the Yaounde Conference Centre during the official presentation ceremony of Cameroon’s 2016 Anti-Corruption Status Report.
Using the examples of Anti-Corruption Agencies of Botswana and Tanzania with staff strengths of 600 and 3000 respectively, he pleaded with his hierarchy to increase CONAC’s staff strength in order to help them produce more satisfactory results in the fight against the social cankerworm.
CONAC’s boss explained that since their structure became operational eight years ago, statistics show that 227 denunciations were received in 2008, 312 in 2009, 482 in 2010, 1247 in 2011, 2089 in 2012, 2758 in 2015 and 2402 in 2016 making a total of 15 551 denunciations.
While stressing that the National Anti-Corruption Commission is not a public funds recovery body, Rev Dieudonne Massi Gams explained that through CONAC’s control mission, actions and recommendations to competent structures, it helped government to recover FCFA 8 billion, 870 million 803 thousand 415 frs and is about helping in the recovery of FCFA 7 billion 098 million 189 thousand 965 frs. He further explained that CONAC helped to prevent the state from losing FCFA34 billion 544 million 850 thousand 862 frs on the project for the construction of the Kribi Industrial Port Complex and on a complementary contract for the Ayos-Bonis road construction project.
CONAC’s Chairman reassured that despite many constraints and resistances such as human resource insufficiency, the absence of CONAC branches all over the national territory, fake CONAC agents that tarnish the institution’s image, inertia in many anti-corruption units in ministries, internal bottlenecks faced by presidents of units and threats on CONAC officials in the exercise of their duties, they are resolutely committed to carry out their noble task of moralization and protection of public wealth, with conviction, courage, firmness, dignity and integrity without fear or discrimination.
In order to foster the functional independence and effectiveness of CONAC, it is strongly recommended that the constituting text of the institution be revised as soon as possible.
Cameroon’s 2016 Anti-Corruption Status Report reveals the existence of a luxurious customs residential quarter in Ndogbong, Douala and 21 customs officers confessing to owning several buildings constructed in Douala and elsewhere as well as numerous bank accounts with a credit balance of FCFA 134 000 000 with the notorious of them serving in Maroua after being recruited as Customs Attendant with the First School Leaving Certificate. He is said to boast of owning 13 villas built on parcels of land with land certificates, a 5-storey building, 5 trucks of 30 tons carrying-capacity, 5 Toyota coaster buses of 28 seats, 2 buses of 18 seats and 1 car park full of very expensive personal vehicles.