Anti- corruption Commission bent on reining in all corrupt officials, even the Head of State, Commission head, Paul Tessa, says

By Franckline Benjika W
The National anti-Corruption Commission President, Paul Tessa, has said his organisation will leave no stone unturned in its fight against corruption. He said the commission's apparent long arm could seize anybody, even the Head of State, Paul Biya, if the need arises. The Commission head was speaking recently in Yaounde during a press briefing marking the solemn launching of NACC's communication activities.

Paul Tessa explained that journalists play a vital role in the fight against corruption because by virtue of their profession they educate, inform, sensitise and entertain the public on burning societal issues daily. He said he needed the collaboration of both the national and international media to stamp out corruption which has become endemic in Cameroon.

Mr Tessa urged journalists, even those absent from the press briefing, to probe into any information related to corrupt practices. He reminded press men that NACC is an independent body charged with contributing to the fight against corruption. According to article eight (8) of the decree creating NACC, the commission's chairperson and vice and the coordination committee members are appointed by presidential decree for a term of three years renewable once.

This article puts to question the organisation's ability to investigate the President of the Republic, if he is suspected of misappropriating public funds, as NACC members are appointed by him and are therefore answerable to him. If some government officials seen as "untouchables" in the ongoing fight against corruption finally go scot-free, then the criticism that the commission is nothing but a "toothless bull dog" or a camouflage mechanism to protect corrupt officials, would be correct.

Mr Tessa told the press that as part of its action plan, some commission members will be deployed to the provinces in the days ahead to check if government-sponsored development projects have been effectively carried out. Other NACC activities include gathering and analysing information on corrupt practices forwarded from various, but usually, anonymous sources. They are also charged with identifying the causes of corruption in public and semi-public services and proposing measures to competent authorities likely to eradicate such practices.

Despite the arrest of some former and present government officials in the drive against corruption in the country, a good number of Cameroonians still feel the initiative is a smokescreen because little or no money has been returned to the public treasury from the bank accounts of real or purported embezzlers. These arrests, carried out under the guise of good governance, made Cameroon eligible for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, HIPC, in April 2006.

A majority of Cameroonians are yet to feel the positives of the country's attainment of the HIPC completion point as dehumanising poverty, social and economic inequalities between the rich and the poor remain widespread. God alone knows when Cameroonians will heave a sigh of relief.
But is the setting up of NACC, not only part of President Biya's gimmicks to divert public attention from matters of corruption linked to the presidential couple? Many Cameroonians are wondering.

Comments

[Toko Divine]

Mr Tchonang Dachi sebastien Merime, secretaire du SDF charge de la communication ,cellule de besseke bonaberi toujours en fuite depuis le 2 Avril 2009 de la prison de new bell douala est recherche par la police judiciaire.

[Agbor Johnson Agbor]

Douala New Bell prison inmate on the run
By Agbor Johnson Agbor

Tchonang Sabastien Dachi Merime, victim of the February 25-28, 2008 four-day nation-wide strike, who was arrested and sentenced alongside many other suspects in November 2008, is on the run.
Tchonang Sabastien was said to have escaped from the Douala New Bell Prison following a massive jail break on the morning
of Thursday, April 2, 2009.
It is alleged that 27- year-old Sebastien, who, until his incarceration was the then Secretary in the SDF Party in charge of communication in the SDF ward of Besseke III, Bonaberi – Douala, had been amongst those that participated in the strike that damaged the Douala Ports Authority, thus, making the Ports Authority suffer a loss estimated at FCFA 50 billion in the First Quarter.
Tchonang Sebastien, like the others arrested in their Bonaberi neighbourhood was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by the Court of First Instance in Douala – with a fine of FCFA 250 million slammed on Sebastien alone for reasons that remain unclear until this day.
Ever since his escape from New Bell prison plain clothes detectives are said to still be on the look out for Sebastien. This possibly explains why his parents are continuously harassed with threats of detention, almost on a daily basis now, if their son is not brought forward to stand trial.
Publish since 2009