Parliamentarians Questioned The Effectiveness Of Projects Control.
The president of the National Anti Corruption Commission ( CONAC) Dieudonne Massi Gams and his team, were on very hot seats on Thursday, April 8, at the Yaounde Conference Center, during a plenary sitting of the National Assembly. Members of parliament put the back of the CONAC team on the wall during the presentation of the progress report on the campaign against corruption in Cameroon and the expectations of CONAC before the law makers.
The parliamentarians, during the general debate, try to find out from the president, the possibility of nine members to effectively carry out control on projects all over the national territory. How often are such controls carried out especially in areas like the North West, South West and the Far North Regions where there are socio-political unrest? How many calls do the team receive daily, monthly and yearly mostly around the regions? What are the feedback? Are those receiving the calls well equipped? Do they master the responding roles and regulations? If there is a case of corruption, what measures are taken on the spots? All these are questions to be answered.
The president of CONAC, Dieudonne Massi Gams, in responding to the worries of the members of parliament, pointed out that, his institution carries out anti corruption sectoral campaign, a thematic caravan to sensitize the population on the dangers of corruption is frequently done. A rapid intervention unit to get people red handed is in place.
At the end of the day, the following recommendation were made. Effectively implement Article 66 of the Constitution on the declaration of assets; Introduce in the legislative corpus the concept of illicit and unjustified enrichment, which has the advantage of placing the burden of proof of ill-gotten gains on the accused and not on the state. the accused and not the prosecution; strengthening the competencies and independence of the CONAC, including the extension of its scope to the private sector and the possibility of referring cases to the courts following findings; – Finalize the draft text on the fight against corruption and submit it to Parliament; On the administrative level, to elaborate a nomenclature of acts of corruption leading to administrative sanctions on the carrier: The Board of Directors may, without prejudice to disciplinary sanctions and legal proceedings, issue regulations to this effect.
Takang Bisong
