By Chief A.S.Ngwana,Douala
Our
Country is in Moral Decay, Our Country is in Economic Collapse, Our
Country is in Financial Turmoil, and Our Country is in Political
Shambles.
All Cameroonians must join hands to rescue Cameroon from chaos.
Every Cameroonian must ask himself why Our Country is so corrupt.
Every
Cameroonian must ask himself what he can do to stop corruption in
Cameroon. Corruption is now part of our lives and it is no more seen as
something horrible. Corruption is a cancer in Our System of life and if
we do not stop it, it will spread and kill us.
Unless we stop Corruption, we will never build a Cameroon of our dreams.
Cameroon
has won the corruption trophy twice, as the most corrupt country in the
world. If we continue like this, we will certainly win this trophy a
third time and keep this infamous world trophy. What a shame and
disaster.
In the words of Prime Minister and Head of Government, Mr. Peter Mafany Musonge, on national television in 1999, “the government is corrupt from top to bottom”. A
national tabloid, reported on Friday, 12 March 2000, that the Chief
Justice of the North West Province, Justice Tengen Pius admitted that
some magistrates in the region are so corrupt that their professional
malpractice not only marred the judiciary but was also responsible for
the increasing loss of public confidence in the courts. “We are aware
of the situation where some magistrates have transformed their chambers
into business premises where justice is sold
for money instead of applying the law as it should be”.
It
is a regular site when travelling, to see policemen, gendamarie or
soldiers on road blocks extorting money from innocent, hard working
peasants returning from their farms or from the markets, under the
pretext of checking identity cards. Travelling by public transport is
even worse because money is extorted from drivers whether their
particulars are correct or not. Taxi drivers and bus drivers carry a fix
amount which they must pay at each check point. They just pay it without waiting for it to be demanded.
Custom
Officers on small salaries can be seen building mansions which many
businessmen cannot build, because before you collect your imported goods
or cars, you must pay extra moneys in bribes and corruptions.
Before
you get your Land Certificate or what is called (Titre Foncier) it
takes many years, a thing which normally takes a few months or maximum
one year. It takes in some cases up to 30 years, because you spend so
much money in litigation, bribery and corruption.
Many
pensioners spend so much time and money (bribery and corruption) to
collect their pensions. Some of these pensioners die while waiting to
collect the money because of the deliberate delays.
Big
“Evelops” of large checks and cash are given to Ministers, Judges,
Politicians and Directors (as bribes) to “facilitate” contracts or
aggreements on any issue.
In the Ministry of Finance and Taxation, nobody knows what happens there.
Billions of francs CFA of Cameroon’s revenue are disbursed through the
budget every year. In the English System money allocated for expenditure
under any heading, if it is not spent, it is usually paid back to the
treasury. After Unification, Dr. John Ngu Foncha, returned some unspent
money from the Vice President’s Office, to the Treasury and the Ministry
of Finance did not know what to do with the money or where to keep the
money, because according their system, if you are allocated money, you
are expected to spend the money. Every year, money is allocated for
the construction of roads, building schools, hospitals, etc, but nobody
checks whether these projects were ever done (uncompleted contracts).
The next year money is allocated again for some of these same projects. What
happened to the money budgeted the previous year for these items? The
Audit Department must trace these funds. The majority of these funds
disappear into “Money Laundry Accounts” abroad.
This
year in the 2013 Draft Budget the Government is expected to spend 3236
billion, FCFA. The Prime Minister Philemon Yang, last Monday , presented
government’s economic, financial, social and cultural programme for
2013, in which the public investment budget stands at 957 billion. He
stated that 145 major projects have already been identified, in this
light, if well executed it would go a long way to improve the living
standards of the population.
The
Government identifies major projects every year, obtains huge sums in
foreign loans, budgets Billions of Francs every year for their
execution, but they are never executed. That is why our living
standards, are not improving but deteriorating. Cameroon External
Foreign Loans are staggeringly large but we can show nothing for them.
Billions of francs are embezzled every
year from moneys budgeted for these projects. The stolen money is kept
in Europe, and America in private accounts, Treasury Bonds, or private
properties. “Money Laundry” is now a criminal offence, so foreign
Governments are willing to repatriate the moneys back to Cameroon on the
request of the Cameroon Government.
Nigerian
Government succeeded in recovering some of Late President Abacha’s
money and the moneys of some of the Governors who looted Nigeria and
kept the moneys in Europe and America.
The
Cameroon Government has jailed some of the 50 billionaires (among whom
are Secretary Generals at the Presidency, Ministers, Generals and
Directors) who looted, embezzled, or stole Government money, but have
not yet been able to repatriate or recover any of the laundry money in
Europe and America. One of these jailed men is alleged to have embezzled
or looted about 300 Billion dollars. Cameroon Government must seek the
help of the American and the European Governments to recover these
colossal sums of money which are hidden in Europe and America in private
bank accounts, treasury bonds and properties (Mansions)
Since
President Rolins of Ghana got 4 past Presidents and several Ministers
executed, for corruption, Ghana has enjoyed economic prosperity,
democracy and peace. We do not believe in capital punishment, because
some of these criminals may stay in prison for life, and repent of their
crimes and receive God’s mercy before they die.
What
Cameroonians want is, to see that Government confiscates all the assets
of all the jailed criminals and ask the help of Foreign Governments to
recover Cameroon’s money stashed away abroad.
Many
innocent Cameroonians are suffering, poor, sick and helpless because of
these heartless people who have embezzled and are still embezzling and
looting our wealth all these years, through bribery and corruption.
We can not build a Cameroon of our dreams if we do not fight against these criminals.
All Cameroonians must join hands together to wage a WAR against BRIBERY and CORRUPTION. The forces of evil are against us in this battle, and we will not win this War unless we invoke God.
The
Catholic Bishops of Cameroon asked all people of Good Will to recite
the following prayer which they asked all Christians to pray daily.
“Heavenly Father,
You always watch over all your creatures
Desiring for them life and happiness.
You have blessed our country Cameroon
With rich human and natural resources
To be used to your honor and glory,
And the well-being of every Cameroonian,
We are deeply sorry for the wrong use
To which we have put your gifts and blessings
Through acts of injustice, bribery and corruption,
As a result of which many of our people are hungry, sick, ignorant and defenseless.
Father, you alone can heal us and our nation of this scourge.
We implore you to reach out and touch our hearts and the hearts of our leaders and people
So that we may all realize the evil of bribery and corruption
And work hard to eliminate it.
Raise up for our country people who love you
And leaders who care for us
And who can lead us along the pathways
Of justice, peace, and prosperity.
We make our prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen”
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