"Biya unfit to fight corruption"

Some civil society activists have questioned the fight against corruption in Cameroon, saying President Paul Biya has no moral authority to fight the cankerworm, because he has not declared his assets.

They hold that the President ought to have demonstrated exemplary behaviour by declaring his assets as provided for by the 1996 Constitution.

“If we go by the fact that President Biya has not implemented Article 66 of the Constitution, I will say that he has neither moral authority nor political will to fight corruption,” Joseph Chongsi, a frontline member of the civil society coalition in Cameroon declared.

Chongsi said President Biya only has some limping moral authority in that his country has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention for the Fight against Corruption. He said even though the President is using other legal provisions in the country to fight the scourge, he ought to declare his assets and ensure that members of his Government do same.

According to another civil society activist, Richard Ndi, who is the Coordinator of the Ecumenical Service for Peace, President Biya’s moral authority is limited because he ought to have long signed the text of application for Article 66 of the Constitution which is the basis of the fight against corruption.

Ndi said Government is not serious in its fight against corruption. He said it was not necessary for Government to create the National Anti-Corruption Commission, CONAC, when its recommendations are ignored every now and then. The civil society official recalled that Government did not heed the CONAC’s recommendation for the prosecution of some Government officials for embezzlement.

But former Minister and frontline member of the ruling CPDM party, Prof. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, took exception to anybody judging President Biya on the basis of the implementation of Article 66 of the Constitution.

“That assertion is unfounded; it does not tie with the facts on the ground. The fight against corruption is not only hinged to Article 66 of the Constitution which provides that State officials should declare their assets before and after leaving office,” Ngolle Ngolle said claiming that the assertion that President Biya lacks the moral authority to fight corruption, does not, in anyway, make sense, because he has fully engaged a battle to rid Cameroon of the scourge that slows down development in many ways.

He said President Biya’s moral authority is embodied in the anti-corruption institutions and the prosecution of some State officials on corruption charges.

To the varsity don, the implementation of Article 66 of the constitution is absolutely very necessary, but it cannot be the be-all and the end-all or the only index of the fight against corruption.

It is now seven years since the National Assembly adopted the law on the declaration of assets. Yet, President Biya is still to issue the text of application to enable the law go functional. Observers who had saluted the law No. 003/2006 of April 25, 2006, as a major step by Government against corruption, have been taken aback.

According to Article 2 of the law, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, members of Government, Members of Parliament and other elected officials are expected to declare their assets. This provision holds sway for Secretaries Generals of Ministries, Directors of central administration, Managers of State corporations, magistrates, officials in charge of taxation, the budget and other vote holders.