Recent updates on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC) of Cameroon
7th African Anti-Corruption Day in Cameroon
Street walk across the City of Ngaoundéré to mobilise the public against corruption
The administrative authorities and dwellers of Ngaoundéré, chief town of the Adamawa Region in Cameroon, organised an anti-corruption walk on 11 July 2023 to raise the public awareness against corruption, as they joined CONAC to commemorate the African Anti-Corruption Day.
The African Anti-Corruption Day is designated by the African Union with the aim to raise awareness on the devastating effects of corruption on national economy and wellbeing of citizens. Being in its seventh year, the African Anti-Corruption Day 2023 was twinned with the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the African Union Convention on Prevention and Combating Corruption.
The Governor of Adamawa Region Kildadi Taguike Boukar and the Vice Chairman of CONAC Prof. François Anoukaha led the 10-km walk which passed through major streets of the town. Some 200 people wearing CONAC T-shirts which showed the Commission's toll-free number and other contacts for reporting corruption took part in the parade.
The event culminated in a commemorative ceremony, during which the CONAC Vice Chairman presented the situation on the fight against corruption in Cameroon and called on the public to join in efforts to eradicate the ill.
The commemoration was followed by a training workshop organised by CONAC in Ngaoundéré on 12-13 July 2023 to equip heads of Anti-Corruption Units in government ministries and other state institutions with techniques to guarantee effective engagement of the Anti-Corruption Units in the fight against corruption in their institutions and the public service as a whole.
Using indigenous languages to combat corruption
CONAC and National Communication Council Authorities attending a training workshop with local language broadcasters
CONAC has embarked on a “proximity approach” to fight corruption by broadcasting anti-corruption messages in indigenous languages through community radio stations.
On 22 June 2023, CONAC organized a training workshop at its head office in Yaoundé, Cameroon for local language broadcasters drawn from 74 community radio stations across the country. During the workshop, media professionals trained the participants on how best to disseminate corruption related information with indigenous languages.
The initiative was then kick-started by the Chairman of CONAC, Rev. Dr. Dieudonné Massi Gams, and the Vice Chairman, Prof. François Anoukaha, when they visited the community radio stations in the East and West Regions of the country and talked to the audience in their mother tongues on air about the fight against corruption.
There are over 250 ethnic groups in Cameroon, each with their own vernacular. The revolutionary communication project is in its pilot stage and has gained wide acclaim from the population and authorities in the country. The 74 selected local languages to be used in the fight against corruption are the most spoken and widely understood in the ten regions of Cameroon.
Students in Cameroon urged on National Youth Day to uphold integrity
A secondary school student in CONAC's event on the National Youth Day
During the event organized by CONAC to celebrate the National Youth Day in Cameroon on 11 February 2023, the Chairman of CONAC, Rev. Dr. Dieudonné Massi Gams, urged students across the country to uphold integrity as a weapon against corruption. He told young people to shun immorality and other forms of deviance, as such habits would destroy their present and future and would cause misery to their families and society. He also appealed students to join the ongoing fight against corruption in Cameroon by becoming whistle blowers and active participants in integrity promotion activities in schools. On the same occasion, CONAC organized an Integrity Quiz for secondary school students and awarded prizes to winners.
CONAC used the National Youth Day celebrations to enhance its integrity education programme, which, being part of its National Strategy against corruption, includes creating integrity clubs in schools and universities across the country.
“Anti-Corruption Clinic” to combat corruption
CONAC carried out a raid in the West Region of Cameroon in April 2023, leading to the arrest and detention of some 11 persons caught red-handed for various corruption offences. Several other cases were filed to the courts for prosecution. Amongst the detainees were senior officials in the police force and the public transport sector. Two persons, who pretended to be CONAC graft-fighters and extorted money from the local populations, were also arrested and detained.
The raid, which was carried out from 17 to 21 April 2023, was in fact part of CONAC's “Anti-Corruption Clinic” operation in the region. CONAC, which is now based only in the capital of Cameroon, set up a temporary office in the Bafoussam City Council to receive and analyse complaints and conduct investigations. The local inhabitants highly applauded this initiative, which pulled CONAC closer to the population, and flooded the temporary office with complaints on corruption and other related offenses.
The “Anti-Corruption Clinic” operation was led by the CONAC Chairman, Rev. Dr. Dieudonné Massi Gams. It was followed by a similar operation in Douala, Cameroon's economic capital, where many officials working in the government and private sector were arrested by CONAC. This initiative is seen as a boost to Cameroon's anti-corruption drive, which is characterised by a series of intervention and mobilization activities undertaken by CONAC in the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy.
CONAC staff receiving complaints and investigating corruption at the “Anti-Corruption Clinic” in Bafoussam
Source: National Anti-Corruption Commission, Cameroon
National Anti-Corruption Commission
Cameroon