Fight Against Corruption : Noticeable Strides Recorded

The fight against corruption in Cameroon is progressing, given the reduction in financial damages suffered by the State in the course of 2022. This is according to findings of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, best known by its French acronym CONAC, contained in Cameroon’s 2022 anti-corruption status report and made public on October 27, 2023 by the Chairman of the Commission, Rev. Dr. Dieudonné Massi Gams.                
The report presents denunciations per sector of activity, statistics on denunciations received globally, overview of irregularities, responsibilities and charges, legal proceedings initiated by CONAC in 2022 following cases of flagrant corruption offences, decisions taken by judicial institutions and a summary of financial loss incurred by the State of Cameroon in 2022 as a result of such actions. In total, based on CONAC investigations, decisions of the Budgetary and Financial Discipline Committee (CDBF) and decisions of the Special Criminal Court (SCC), the financial loss suffered by the State of Cameroon as a result of corruption actions and related offences amounts to FCFA four billion six hundred and twenty-three million, four hundred and eighteen thousand, nine hundred and eighteen in 2022. This is against FCFA forty-three billion, nine hundred and forty-seven million, seven hundred and ninety-four thousand, one hundred and thirty-eight, in 2023. This progress recorded, the Chairman said, is thanks to increased awareness by Cameroonians on the consequences of corruption on national development. CONAC investigates show the State lost over 249 million, with decisions of SCC amounting to FCFA three billion, 875 million, and decisions of CDBF standing at FCF 499 million. 
As concerns denunciations per sector of activity, out of the 12 sectors analysed, property and land tenure comes first with a total of 705 complaints received, representing 20.3 per cent of petitions recorded. They pertained mainly to land disputes ...