Government Admits Cameroon Merited Corruption Champion

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Contrary to its earlier stance, the government of Cameroon has admitted that the German Anti-Corruption NGO, Transparency International, TI, was right when it classified Cameroon as the most corrupt country in the world for two consecutive years. When TI declared Cameroon the world corruption champion in 2000, government went in for an all-out war to gainsay the classification.
Some bigwigs of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, CPDM, even wrote motions of support to the government while castigating the TI boss, Peter Eigen, for being biased against Cameroon.Five years after that classification, government seems to have come out of its shell to admit that TI was right. "When Cameroon topped the chart as the world champion of corruption, the entire nation was disturbed and traumatised. Some citizens considered it a betrayal or even a show of hatred for our country by certain donors or super powers. A closer look would, however, reveal that many indicators seem to confirm the classification in almost all sectors of national activity."This was the opening paragraph of a paper the head of the Anti- Corruption Unit I, at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, Jean Marie Onana, presented at the Yaounde Conference Centre last week on the occasion of the annual conference of officials of Central and External Services of that Ministry.
Minister Polycarpe Abah Abah chaired the meeting, which held from August 11-12. Presenting an exposé on the "Fight Against Corruption, Ethics and Competitiveness," Onana said the corruption scourge has ravaged the whole gamut of national activity, including the education, health, public works, agriculture, sports, and economy sectors. He noted that despite the fierce battle government has launched against corruption, the cankerworm was on the upsurge and has caused Cameroon not to benefit from recent debt cancellation by the Bretton Woods Institutions. Drawing inspiration from a criminal law expert, Mireille Delmas Marty, Onana said the scourge has two faces, namely: passive and active corruption. Hear him; "The government official or employee who allows himself to be bought is involved in passive corruption and the user or boss who resorts to promises, grants or gifts to derail the former from his mission is into active corruption." He added that the two forms of corruption coexist naturally, while noting that corruption is a criminal offence, punishable by virtue of the Cameroonian Penal Code.Onana told his colleagues that the various forms of corruption were perpetrated in their Ministry

 

Causes Of Corruption

Delving into the causes of corruption, Onana said the severe economic crisis, which hit Cameroon in the 80s, should be blamed on the fact that this practice was allowed to flourish. He equally put the blame on the 1993 salary cuts, the shift in the value system of professional life where value, experience and know-how are neglected in favour of gifts, nepotism and other ills linked to corruption. According to Onana, ignorance, non-chalance, impunity and laissez- faire have continued to sustain acts of corruption. He recommended the regular organisation of training seminars and the intensification of internal controls.
The government official established the link between the fight against corruption and economic growth, which he said, hampers and upsets macro-economic stability. Said he: "As a corollary of illegality and unlawfulness, corruption can only constitute an obstacle to growth." Onana added that such a situation reduces investment because money is spent in illegitimate deals that are generally not easy to quantify. Quoting the World Bank, he said close to five percent of the value of world transactions, representing 1.500.000 million US dollars, are engulfed by corruption each year.The meeting that was aimed at reviewing Cameroon's economic and financial programme equally brought together treasurers from Cameroon's diplomatic mission abroad. Besides charting the way forward, Abah Abah said participants were condemned to look for ways of leading Cameroon to the HIPC-I Completion Point.
It was within this context that the Director of Economic Affairs in that Ministry, Lazare Bela, presented a paper on macro-economic and growth prospects of Cameroon. According to him, recent indicators of economic activity in Cameroon tend to generally confirm a slow-down in growth in 2005.He said the last estimates the Department of Economic Affairs made on the basis of remarks on the first six months, puts the growth rate at two percent.While making projections about 2006, the Director said a timely increase in oil production, the launch of construction work on the Cobalt Mine, will stir an improvement.
Besides, he noted that the exploitation of forest management accounts and the confirmation of regular power supply prospects of reaching the HIPC-I Completion Point, is expected to turn the economy around.
Other positive indicators, he projected, include considerable investment in the field of Public Works and Civil Engineering. He was optimistic that such an economic situation could put the growth rate at 4.3 percent in 2066.Going down to specific sectors, the economist said in 2005, energy production would barely increase by 2.5 percent as against 2004. This situation followed an increase in tariffs that triggered a fall in demand. Such a situation is also going to permit industries to allow their machines to be fine-tuned so as to decrease their use of energy.
The economist quoted oil producers as estimating that the industrial production of palm oil would increase by 10 percent in 2005 as compared to 2004. This production will settle around some 110.000 tonnes.
It was stated that SOCAPALM, which makes about 70 percent of the oil production is having problems in marketing because the domestic market is being flooded with cheap oils imported from Southeast Asia.The official also quoted experts as stating that the banana production this year is expected to remain stable while cotton production is expected to increase by 19 percent, hinging on some 120.000 tonnes. It was estimated that following the exploitation of minor oil fields and the present euphoria in the international market for crude oil, production projections for 2006 have to increase by 6.8 percent according to the National Hydrocarbon Corporation.

Other papers presented at the meeting had to do with medium economic and financial programmes, as well as on the new responsibilities of the treasury within Cameroon's actual economic and financial landscape. The Director of Taxes, Laurent Nkodo, presented a paper on "Tax policy Within a Context of Economic Reforms."