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« Obama: 100 Days, 100 Ways | Main | Top Ranking Cameroonian Blogs on Afrigator »

April 29, 2009

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MILLAISGOD

ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL

Ambe Johnson

Millions transported in "mokuta" bags; giant outdoor TV screens that cost 70 million FCFA to rent and not to buy; "Kamikaze missions" to Gabon with bagloads of money... Did you say Banana republic?????!!!!!!

Jean Paul Toure

99 days for a thief and one day for the owner. Why did he ( Biyiti Essam ) not deposit the money with the treasury in Yaounde? The government owns the treasury and all tax payers money is deposited there or not? Why did he choose his personal bank account? carrying bags of money from cameroon to Gabon..... What an excuse ......

Let justice prevail.

Mbala

I am no fan of Biyiti, particularly after his sanguinary role in the crackdown on the 2008 riots in Cameroon. That said, I find it hard to blame him for this issue. The question should not be why he put the money in his account but why the Ministry of Finance decided to send bags of money instead of using modern tool such as wire transfers, checks etc., Biyiti did the best he could given the circumstances. You don't just walk into the national treasury as say "save this money for me"!! - even if you are a minister....

The real scary part in this story is that if Biyiti had actually stored this money under his bed and had used it as he saw fit (just as camtel, Cameroon Tribune and CRTV did) no one would question him as long as the visit went without a hitch.

So in essence, the guy is being charged for using a bank rather than his ceiling as former Minister Albert Ngome Kome once did, to the delight of his children and their friends who "sprayed" Yaounde with so much money that the town got dizzy before the father could realize what was going on.

Set Biyiti Essam Free!!!!

Comgi Nite

The Minister of finance must be held accountable for being reckless with the country's treasury. How can he approve such an amount of money in bags to be delivered to another ministry with no bank account. Esimi is not an effective person and Cameroonians would find out later that they have another thief called minister of Finance.

Djento

OK, Biyiti might be "clean" with regards to the money that ended in his personal account, but he should be charged for negligence for renting giant TV screens for 70 million FCFA when he could have bought a cutting edge ones for far less from France

Here is the purchase cost for inflatable giant screens (preferred because they can't fall down and crush people)

1. dimension 10m x 7m poids 50 kg prix 12 280 €

2. dimension 13m x 8m poids 80 kg prix 16 360 €

3. dimension 15m x 10m poids 110 kg prix 18 720 €

4. dimension 17m x 12m poids 180 kg prix 26 840 €

5. dimension 20m x 14m poids 220 kg prix 32 080 €

6. dimension 24m x 14m poids 280 kg prix 37 080 €

Note that the rental fee for the biggest of these screens is 2500 €, that is, slightly over 1 million Francs CFA and 70 times cheaper than Biyiti's Gabonese rentals

Check out the following site for details.

http://www.hallucinecran.fr/f/ecrans-geants-gonflables/tarifs-avec-soufflerie-vente/

UnitedstatesofAfrica

bags of money? W T F? and I thought this was the 21st century. When Biya and his people steal taxpayers' money and travel abroad, don't they enjoy the comfort of debit cards and efficient bank systems? carrying money in mukata bags? What the hell? seriously.

Wayo Man

You guys forget so fast. Just recently, one of the President,s aide de camp tried to vamoose with President Biya,s Presidential briefcase..."Containing millions of Dollars and Euros in the highest denominations". The poor guy is languishing somewhere in jail. Why does the President have to always move around with such gargantuan sums of money in Cold Hard Cash?

Liliane Namondo McFarlane

LOL!!! This just tells you how much need there is for development in Cameoroon. I suppose he thought they would have beaten him had he taught them the wonderful world of funds movement through modern technology. I am assuming he even understands what all that is about. This certainly makes for a good laugh.

Ma Mary

Gross stealing of public money is the most serious crime because it causes or worsens other kinds of crime by disrupting and impoverishing society. A country will know it is on the right path when the person at the top is clean and the law fearlessly cracks down hard on the corrupt in high places. The incidence and intensity of every crime from the simplest kind of bribery to genocide can be directly linked to this kind of corruption.

Wirndzerem G. B.

Monsieur le Ministre,
you ask repeatedly what you should have done? I am humbled by this humility of your present rhetoric(...coerced into such un-you-like virtue by these "tirs groupés" & "pillonage" from your private press wards?) Any ways,can't this be the commonsensical answer: Call the MINFI and return the money to sender. Then and collect it in due & proper form the next morning! Simple: for if the bouncers could bring the money at that 'ungodly'hour then their brawns could as well return it at same hour. Was the dough aflame & only extinguishable by your immediate reception? Or am I unministrably naive!

Wonja Elive

Plz don't condemn the man just yet. It may be worthwhile to understand the the situation that prevails in the country: a cabinet reshuffle is around the corner, so it may not be out of question aspirants to blackmail ministers with help of other ministers. Can anybody explain why money was sent in ''mukuta bags''instead of bearer bonds? Could that not be a trap for the minister?

Only some months ago, 3.5 billion was stolen in a mukuta bag from the president himself! In the 21st century, money being transported in mukuta bags? This issue runs deeper than meets the eye. I remember some time ago Dibussi evoked the subject of incorporating the ICTs in management/administration. The old guys at the top don't see any need in this. otherwise how do you explain why the financial transactions didn't take place by credit cards?

My conclusion: We'll never be able to tell if the minister is guilty. Money was sent to him in mukuta bags. Ministeries don't run bank accounts. If were you, would you have taken the risk of keeping the money at home?

Samira Edi

An astonishingly bemusing tale of a wavering criminal——exposing himself for his complete incompetence at handling large sums. I know a crime when I see it.

Biyitti putting Public Funds into his personal accounts is a crime in any other country but Cameroon——it is actually called embezzlement of public funds in the rest of the world, hey! Whether Biyitti used it or not is not the issue. And the fact that it happened twice is a potent indication of a mind that is toying with the idea of gross theft. Maybe he lacks the courage to go the whole hog, but to me, there is a fishy smell of attempted robbery wafting all over it.

His personal bank account is not the national treasury. He could’ve opened a temporary account if he had to——perfectly useful in every country in the world——for the purpose of holding temporary funds of such magnitude, afterall, the assistant Bank Manager was there.

They do things haphazardly in Cameroon, because they leave things undone, to be rushed at the last minute and they start panicking. They’ve known of the pope’s visit for more than 8 months——not two months prior. Why should the Minister of Communications personally be handling funds for buying those screens—and his utility consultant is—George Seba the musician? Wow. Why do they do things like it is a private family matter? Because that is the clannishness that happens in the CPDM inept tribalist government.

Why does the minister have to consult individuals, instead of dealing with companies? Besides, it would’ve been cheaper to import 4 giant screens Brand New directly from Europe and shipped to Cameroon at half the price they got RENTED screens from Gabon. Only on the strength of that initial release of funds on February 26 by the head of state, the Head of Utilities [referred to here as Director of General Affairs] in the ministry, should have ordered those screens, so that they arrived in Cameroon long before the money was wired to the companies that sold them. And they could’ve paid in post-dated checques or US treasury cheques – guaranteed for its authenticity everywhere!

Between Mr Biyitti and the assistant DG of SGBC, there was a conspiracy for money laundering. The adjunct actually provided Biyitti with a legal basis to launder funds with the help of his establishment. By telling him to declare provenance of such funds—and its destination—but only with the minister’s signature, gave him a perfect cover not only for that particular unusually large sum into the Minister’s personal account——but has provided him with a high profile guarantee for future references— he is automatically provided with a cover from the scrutiny of rogue provenance of any future monies—and that is also another method of money laundering.

SGBC is not the only bank in Cameroon. Why didn’t the minister think of other banks like Standard Chartered to provide him temporary services? My conclusion is that Mr Biyitti has revealed his incompetence—as a minister who cannot be calm and rational under pressure, does his job in a shoddy and unsystematic manner and even more sinisterly, he must be toying with the idea of a big steal, and is too cowardly at the moment. Further investigations into the matter will shed light on the issue—and I don’t see him coming out untainted.
Such a farcical narrative would've earned the minister a psychiatric facility, but not in Cameroon. How disingenuous.

Your boss

These people do not know how to manage money, only how to steal it. No wonder their money is still a version of the french franc. The place is just begging for complete recolonization.

Enanga

This is so pathetic it's hard to believe! The Cameroon government transfers funds in mukuta bags carried around by bouncers? LOL.This is a joke - I used to think that the guys at the top getting rich off stolen government money were at least a little cunning, but I now see that there is no need for intelligent ploys when the cash is literally being dumped in their laps, begging to be swindled. The first question that came to mind though when I started reading this article was why the government is spending 770 million francs on the pope's visit? And that's just media coverage. The roads are full of potholes, airports are a disgrace, there are hospitals and schools to be built and maintained...etc etc etc, and Popol thinks media coverage of the Pope's visit is a more deserving investment for 700 million francs? Na wah oh! God save us from the incompetence, corruption and mediocrity that is the Cameroon government.

E E Esambe

When readers conversant with the socio-political situation in Cameroon vividly dramatise this situation, a worthy correlative will be to revisit "The Battle at Krugger" in Youtube. The two situations support each other. Cameroon is fast becoming a quasi (or should I say psuedo) jungle with incoherency that reeks of despair.

ngum

sorry dibussi but this is still hilarious, sounds like sth for the no 1 ladies detective series.

THE FUTURE PRESIDENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC CAMEROON ;HON.D

The reality is very simple ; even those in Kumba dust pot roads will find it hard to believe Mr Biya and his cow boys ministers and their crumpy inter-banking moves.more or less funds exodus in bags ???

These 419 crooks just can't get it right that their days are numbered and Biya and his games of cash is and will be come History.Mr Dibussi ,fork u .. you little trash,just as your Biya man, u guys lack these modern common technics to spice up your game; YOU CAN RUN WITH ALL EXCUSES ; BUT YOU CAN NEVER HIDE FROM THE FINAL JUDGEMENT DAY FROM THE MAN UP STAIRS..

The actual Cameroon president is a fee man ; Biya no worry Boss ,your time go soon reach; even the Mobutu Seseko himself got knock down; if i am you Mr Biya ; after taking Cameroonians for mugus for almost 30years now , just have a double look at that your Chantal's zombi face and you will see where you guys are leading to....../// that end of road is just around your etoudi junta..''


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