Le Front, a biweekly French-language newspaper, has published what it describes as the ""Hit Parade of Billionaire Civil Servants" in Cameroon in its February 9, 2006 issue (no. 065). According to the newspaper, the names, banks, and accounts of the civil servants involved were revealed by "American financial networks" who have traced the bulk of the accounts to banks in Spain, South Africa, Portugal, Switzerland and Monaco. Le Front claims to have obtained the list from “most reliable sources at the very top of the Cameroonian State.”
According to the paper, it is publishing the list in order to bring back the focus on issue of corruption in high places which was placed on the backburner thanks to the list of homosexuals that was “maliciously” served to the public as a distraction.
It is worth noting that Le Front also publishes the names of 17 “rigorous and incorruptible/honest” top government officials "by order of merit".
According to the BBC, "copies of Le Front sold out quickly on Friday morning, as everyone was keen to see the millionaire list, which has become the talk of the country".
So is this another bloody chapter in what increasingly appears to be a "war of clans" currently taking place within the Biya regime where rivals are destroying each other by proxy, or is the list for real? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, Scribbles from the Den has obtained a PDF version of the much-sought after issue no. 065 of "Le Front". Read the report accompanying the lists to decide if this is another hoax or the real deal.
Click here to print or download Le Front in PDF format (473 kb)
Tag: Cameroon Africa Corruption
So why the heck does the good guy (not a thief) Philemon Yang work for these people?
Posted by: Ma Mary | February 11, 2006 at 01:27 PM
where is the account of the chief himself
i mean the chef voleur, paul biya.
i bet his account is 100 times the budget of his adopted country, lrc
Posted by: paolo laurent | February 11, 2006 at 04:50 PM
the international community, i mean the
united nationas and the transparency international should order , all these
fortunes frozen, and save in a trust fund to help the suffering people
Posted by: paolo laurent | February 11, 2006 at 04:52 PM
yang is equally a thief, his is bribe
macalla party. served to him on a golden plate from his boss, the chef voleur
paul biya, another reason is, this isnt all
the entire list, in all the banks in the world, thats why yangs name as well as biya have not surfaced, but wait, lets do a sweep in all the banks in the world ie
cay man, swiss, paris, london, etc, and you go see wonder, wey this monkey dem fo coat dey dee put us thru. in this life, i mean , wey all our money from ndian and victoria oil dee end up.
Posted by: paolo laurent | February 11, 2006 at 04:57 PM
It is really a pity to see the long list of corrupt civil servants in our beloved country especially after all the noise of "Rigeur et Moralisation"
Let us keep suffering and praying for the Almighty to come to our assistance as He did to the people of Isreal in the Old Testament.
Posted by: Ni Numvi | February 12, 2006 at 07:21 AM
Tell me how the government can fight corruption.Those who are in the position to wage a war on corrution are the most corrupt.These people are wicked and God will punish them accordingly.They will never used all this money in their life time.While Cameroonians are suffering,they have put this money abroad for foreigners to benefit.They are evil.Biya cannot act because his own case is worst.
Posted by: Fon Lawrence | February 12, 2006 at 08:41 AM
No prizes for guessing why Cameroon has ended up one of the most highly indebted countries and without means … this is sick.
The wounds that created “the scar on the conscience of the world” (Tony Blair) could be traced to slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism policies.
But this, I think is what has made that wound pus laden and septic. If one had anything to do with it there’d be full declaration of assets prior to and post appointments to public office.
If the West has to be true to its commitment to Africa in view of all the rhetoric then all such funds should be repatriated…
If the West wants to show it’s not speaking with a forked tongue then such funds will be accorded the same status as money funding terrorist organisations, investigated, frozen, confiscated and returned to those whose generations have been mortgaged to swell foreign coffers …
I find this level of embezzlement nothing short of high treason.
Yet I’m somehow wistfully thinking on this cold winter’s day that well, maybe this ain’t true ...
Good weekend
Lloney Monono
Posted by: Lloney Monono | February 12, 2006 at 03:25 PM
There is something curious about these lists. I mean the list concerning homosexuals and this one about civil servants cum billionaires. The curiousity is that the name of the chief priest- PAUL BIYA is not there.
Posted by: Nkosi Jacob | February 13, 2006 at 01:04 AM
It is really sad to read about all these thieves in our country in the names of civil servants.they should be prosecuted and brought to justice. that is the reason why Cameroon is one of the most underdeveloped countries in black Africa.About 15 or 18 years ago, Namibians and South Africans were coming to Cameroon as refugees., today Cameroonians are going to these countries to seek greenier pastures.Thats a shame.
Posted by: polycarp Mbongwo | February 14, 2006 at 07:07 PM
We know its all bad.
But where are the opposition leaders. What are they doing? Its time to get these facts and figures and nail Biya. Transparency International and otherss cannot do anything without the total force from Cameroonians.
There should be mass demonstration and total chaos in the country on hearing such a nasty news.
Posted by: Fonjong | February 15, 2006 at 10:38 AM
who is talking of transparency international here.Are they tranparent only in Africa?Where have they been all these years when this money had been lying in the western banks.They were not transparent enough.They must start with themselves.The westerners are the ones encouging all this stealing in Cameroon talk less of Africa.Its a shame.Even Biya that was suppose to be topping the list is not even there.What are we talking about.Its about time we get things serious.We have not seen anything yet.The worst is still to come.God bless Cameroon.
Posted by: nforsama | February 23, 2006 at 12:28 PM
I don't know why Cameroonians seem to be surprised? I am not surprised at all. With the mass of natural resources that Cameroon possesses, I knew that Dr/Mr. Biya and his boys have been partying and stealing. If any Cameroonian is surprised then he has not been in Cameroon for a long time. If you have seem the type of vehicles this thieves drive then you will wonder if it is only the salary alone. Don't Cameroonians know that to stay too long in office opens people to corrruption, nepotism and other crimes. I wish the Le Front would had have just a little courage to put Dr/Mr. Biya's name first. It is time we look for means to stop Dr/Mr. Biya and his boys from finishing the small that is remaining.
Seseko moh Tabiewube
Posted by: seseko moh Tabiewube | February 25, 2006 at 11:34 AM
i can see a list of names we consider at frauders and it is time justice takes it course but at the same time i found some names on the list i think did a good job to the cameroonian people . A case like the former director of treasury he has being one of the outstanding directors who passed through that office and came out with a clean shit and the first ever anglophone. we hope this is the beginning of something.
GG
Posted by: gerry | February 26, 2006 at 01:13 AM
Tabloid journalism as always. Ou sont les preuves? It's e-z to make accussations but prove them then...
Posted by: Etienne Daho | February 26, 2006 at 08:25 PM
Reader asks about proof. Proof, my dear Daho is easy to find. Outsize furnished mansions that cannot be explained by a person's salary as a civil servant, even when bolstered with credit. Multiple luxury cars that cost more than 50,000 Euro each. Frequent trips abroad in high style. That is proof enough just from a casual observer. These kinds of proofs would trigger audits from the tax collector and from the state in an open society if you live far beyond your means. Homosexuality is more difficult to prove, except by fellow participants who can give incontrovertible details. There is a story making the rounds that one of the newspapers sued by Duke Gregoire Owona showed up in court with video evidence that was not screened because of the circus atmosphere in court. We shall soon see if that was just a ruse. How do you get such video? Somebody was spying? The more likely scenario is that these power figures enjoyed taking videos of themselves performing and some of those have leaked.
Posted by: Ma Mary | February 27, 2006 at 06:17 PM
ma mamy, muna don kill wee,
wee fo stay wee, by our sef, we join weti
toupiri and fang and all kind dogs sem
simply becos , dem di wear coat and tie too.
southern cameroonians, wonna fight fo our independence ooohh.
Posted by: paolo laurent | February 28, 2006 at 10:40 PM
Why should the splint be removed from the eyes of the comrades while the patron has a log in his?
what is this American interferance in the Cameroon political scene? They come as corruption witch hunters, let us see where they shall lead us in our developing underdevelopment
Posted by: Frank Wolfe | March 06, 2006 at 08:05 AM