Anti-corruption Crusade Hurdles

Cameroon’s 2021 Anti-corruption Status Report indicates strides registered so far since the National Anti-corruption Commission (CONAC) drew up the National Anti-corruption Strategy for the country in 2010. The report of the implementation of the strategy has shown a number of hurdles that make the corruption phenomenon to persist.
The fight against corruption is part of government policy but there exist no real pressure on all public administrations, public and semi-public establishments to participate by first of all allowing the National Anti-corruption Commission staff to probe into acts of corruption in them nor compel them to submit their anti-corruption reports to CONAC. The report indicates that in 2021 CONAC received activity reports from only two Ministries of Sovereignty that are the Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development and the General Delegation for National Security out of seven Ministries. Out of the 374 Local, Subdivisional and City Councils, the institution received activity reports from the Bertoua, Douala and Garoua City Councils. Some 20 public and semi-public establishments submitted their activity reports.
The absence of criminalisation of illicit enrichment and the implementation of appropriate measures for the declaration of assets are not helping matters in the fight against corruption. This implies that individuals can use any means to enrich themselves knowing that there is no legal instrument to check the source of their revenue. Also considering that nobody knows the property of senior officials before that take up duties, it is difficult to try to find out the source of their enrichment when they leave office.
The fight against corruption has equally be slowed by inadequate use of e-governance. The use of e-governance which has to be re-doubled reduces the chances of physical interactions that might lead to corruption. Digitalisation in the provision of services, electronic  payment of taxes and custom duties, online bidding for public contracts and other transactions would eliminate bottlenecks and reduce acts of corruption.<...