Corruption Damages In 2021 : State Incurred FCFA 43.9 Billion Deficit

The 2021 report on the anti-corruption drive in Cameroon has been officially presented to the public by the Chairperson of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), Rev. Dr. Dieudonne Massi Gams.  Going by the report, the total amount of corruption related damages incurred by the State for last year stands at FCFA 43 billion 947 million 794 thousand 138 francs. The previous year (2020), damages stood at FCFA 17 billion 611 million 274 thousand 184 francs. This year’s damages represent an increase of over FCFA 26 billion. This is according to the investigations carried out by the Anti-Corruption Commission as well as the decisions of the Budgetary and Finance Disciplinary Council and the Special Criminal Court. Inputs of the report were gotten from 27 ministries, 10 Courts, seven civil society organisations, three audit institutions, two regulatory bodies and one religious group. The same report further highlights that financial losses incurred by the State of Cameroon for 2021 as assessed by the investigations carried out by CONAC stand at FCFA 24 billion 801 million 575 thousand 471 francs, of which FCFA 24 billion 249 million 045 thousand 479 francs are related to the irregularities observed at the Cameroon Debt Recovery Corporation (SRC).
In his keynote address, CONAC’s Chairperson noted that the institution received a total of 6,705 reports of acts of corruption in 2021. Based on complaints, Rev. Dr. Dieudonne Massi Gams said one can conclude that corruption is particularly rife in eleven sectors of activities, amongst them; education, finance (customs, taxation, treasury), trade, territorial administration, trade, state property and land tenure, health and justice. “The most frequently decried practices include: the payment of money for the signatures of some administrative and municipal authorities, undue demand in the sale of State private land, the issuance of fraudulent land...