Cameroon's Corrupt Police: Isn’t It Time For Repentance?

By Christopher Ambe 

Picture:Cameroon's Police Boss,Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o(in Suit) decorating Police Commissioner Dahirou Hayatou with medal,for duty-consciousness

Returning from Cameroon’s Economic capital, Douala, to the town of Buea, in the evening of August 18, 2008 gave me an opportunity to see how determined and shameless some Cameroon policemen can be when it comes to bribe-taking.

Some police men here appear to fear nothing when extorting from individuals or when committing other professional sins.
Riding with a friend in his five-seat car, we were suddenly stopped by four French-speaking policemen around Bekoko. They had no name-tags. They harshly asked to see the vehicle’s documents. One of them collected the documents and rather walked away, about ten meters with them pretentiously to check them.

My friend who was driving hesitantly followed him, leaving me and two others in the car. The policemen did not ask us for our individual identification papers.

After about 30 minutes, he came back empty-handed, looking angry and cursing.
"They have refused to return my driving license and the other documents claiming that when they stopped me somebody jumped out from the car and ran away into the nearby bush. They claimed it was a criminal who ran .They have also charged me among others with trying to escape control by not stopping where they showed me to," he explained, showing us a police summons which carried five charges on it.

"In fact, they are asking me to pay 5000 Fcfa for all the charges if I must be free. I am not ready to lose a dime to them because I know I have not committed any crime,"he fumed. "These police men are only interested in collecting money and don’t want to listen to me"

I listened keenly to him talk and I felt sorry for him especially as I knew that the policemen cooked-up the charge that someone had vamoosed from our car. Disappointed, I decided to accompany him back to the police men. There, I introduced my self as a journalist and pleaded his case. It was then that the leader of the police group shamelessly asked that, to cut a long story short, we should give 3000 Fcfa and recover the car documents. He insisted on the amount
. Unfortunately, my driver-friend did not have the requested amount. He had just used the small money on him to fuel the car. He pleaded with 1000Fcfa to no avail.
To save precious time being lost, he borrowed 2000 Fcfa from me, went and "settled" them before regaining his documents. Even my presence as a journalist did not scar the police men. They almost descended on me when I asked to know the name of one of them. I cautiously stayed quiet to avoid the unknown.

We had spent an hour or so trying to bring the police to reason.Ofcourse, they refused to reason.
The above narration is a clear representation of the behavior of some Cameroonian Policemen
Cameroon has been rated twice as the most corrupt nation in the world by Transparency International, a Berlin- based good governance watch dog.

The police corps is one of the services where corruption is so rife. It is easy to see policemen on control mission on the roads collecting small amount of money (500-2000Fcfa) from defaulting drivers so to let them go. Transporters here know how money- minded police men are, so much so that immediately they are stopped by the police, they just pull out a few coins for settlement. They are different illegal methods the police use to extort money from the public shamelessly.
But Cameroon President Paul Biya, who is also the Supreme Commander of the country’s police

force, is worried about the battered image of the police.

He has not only cited the police in his speech as too corrupt but has of late been dismissing some corrupt senior police officials from their posts and even suspending their salaries for months. The president even created a special force, called La police de Police, to check crime within the police force. The fight against corruption in the police is still alive, yet corruption is common.
Although the police are supposed to promote human rights, protect lives and property, some Cameroonian policemen have instead been associated with the loss of lives and property and other human rights abuses

As from 21 August 2008 Police Commissioner Tocko Andre Theophile, 53, became the new Provincial Delegate of National Security for the South West of Cameroon. He took over from Police Commissioner Dahirou Hayatou, who on the day of the handing over ceremony, was publicly decorated with the medal of Officer of National Order of Valour, for efficiency and duty-consciousness.
No doubt, there are many policemen who are worth the salt like Commissioner Dahirou Hayatou . There are also many who are corrupt to the bone.
Installing him in to his new functions, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o ,Cameroon’s Delegate-General for National Security particularly requested Commissioner Tocko to be duty-conscious and strict.
"I call on you to spare no effort in fighting indiscipline, corruption and all other types of dishonest acts which are a thorn on our corps and which tarnish the image of National Security,"Mebe Ngo,looking stern, said. "This is a call for you (Commissioner Tocko) to rigorously handle your elements"

The Delegate –General regretted that, despite the presence of the police in the Southwest province crime rate was still high.

"Security-wise, the Southwest province for some months now has experienced an upsurge in criminality …manifested notably through: armed robberies, hold-up in homes and touristic sites, murders and various forms of trafficking"

If for one or several reasons the Cameroon Police Force have forgotten its mission and duties, they should be reminded that it is incumbent on them –in the words of the Delegate –General Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo "to ensure the maintenance of law and order, peace and security of the population by a judicious and optimal mobilization of resources put at your disposal to eradicate criminality in all its forms".

The Police as law enforcement agents must not be identified with law-breaking.
A policeman must be someone of high moral and intellectual rectitude as well as duty-conscious, in order to command respect.

With the image of the Cameroon Police largely battered, isn’t it time they turned over a new leaf and regain the confidence of the public?