Driving school owners protest corruption in exams

A mixed team of police and gendarmerie officers is on the trail of owners of driving schools in Yaoundé, as they protest against bribery and influence peddling in a recent driving license examination. The striking proprietors say thousands of names of people who did not take part in the exercise, have been inserted into the lists of successful candidates.

The mixed team of security officers clamped down on the strikers June 11, chasing them away from the premises of the Prime Minister’s office and confiscating their placards.

The protesters led by Francoise Ngah Messobo, President of the Cameroon Driving School Owners Movement, were forced to move to a driving training ground about 150 metres away from the PM’s Office to continue the strike.

A group of officers from the Anti-riot units of the National Gendarmerie and Police force stood by as the protesters chanted the national anthem and protest songs calling on solidarity from all and sundry. “Road accidents kill the rich, the poor, the sick, the healthy; everybody can lose a relative or die in an accident. Our cause is a national cause,” they chanted.

In an interview with the Cameroon Journal, Messobo said that they have reported unscrupulous divisional delegates to the transport minister but they are yet to be sanctioned. He said that “Divisional delegates take money from people and insert their names on the final lists. They also insert names of their relatives and names of relatives of some big people. We held a meeting with the minister; he said we will talk about it and that was it.”

Messobo said the Movement has notified the ministry and sent lists of candidates from all registered driving schools to the ministry for the examination. He complained that when they realized that some fake lists were being brought up by officials of the transport ministry, they threatened to boycott the examination-but government went ahead to organize the examination.

“During the exams on May 23, the Divisional Delegate for the Mungo was caught red handed in fraud by agents CONAC. The Divisional Delegate in charge of Akonolinga was caught with a fake list -it contained names of candidates from a fictitious driving school. These are people who do not value human lives” Messobo fumed.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, dated June 9, 2015 and signed by teachers and owners of driving schools, they deny allegations that they boycotted a crisis meeting organized by Robert Nkilli, Transport Minister, on May 19. They notified the PM that they will again go on strike for reforms to be carried out before the next exam session which comes up on June 29.

Immediate Reforms Demanded

Placards presented near the PM’s office said 10 people took part in some centers and the final list of successful candidates had 1000 names. The protesting teachers said the examination process was far below standards. Each candidate took about 12 or 17 seconds to complete the exercise. They demand that the examination centers be refurbished and equipped with appropriate testing materials.

They also proposed to the transport minister an official channel to be put in place to ensure that exam fees go straight to the state treasury. “Can you believe that no receipts are given to candidates when they register?” One of the strikers asked Cameroon Journal rhetorically; adding that “we also want the complete final results of the exams published after each session.”

They also oppose the management of the exams by agents of the transport ministry and request the creation of a board of driving license examination. They oppose the selection of members of the exam jury by regional delegates of the transport ministry and said driving school teachers and owners should be consulted according to a September 1, 2000 ministerial decision.