Other causes include personal interests and absence of duty conscience, a weakened judiciary with minimal or non-existent opposition in the legislative branch, nepotism and favouritism, and ineffective accountability systems.
[6] Cameroon also witnessed the prosecution of corruption committed by a former prime minister, Ephraim Inoni, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2013 for embezzlement.
Several high corruption risk sectors, such as customs and public procurement, create obstacles for doing business in Cameroon.
Furthermore, transparency of the civil society and freedom of the press are still weak and efforts engaged to combat these have been extensively criticised by national and international actors.
Office power is used by civil servants who are void of the concept of the superior interest of the nation and instead motivated by personal uses and gains.
[12] Very close to neopatrimonialism is the patronage system in Cameroon, in which local elections for example, are done based on particularistic divisions – like ethnicity, religion – in addition to how well the candidate is related to and has access to resources from the central government.
Cameroonian academics and political analysts have criticised the pervasive lack of accountability of corruption acts in Cameroon.
Fometeu further argues that there is a lack of a conviction system proportional to the severity of the act of corruption committed, unwillingness of political leaders to submit themselves to scrutiny, that denunciation should be done freely without fear of backlashes, and the judiciary should be totally independent.
[16] Political will is crucial in the fight against corruption as it sets the tone, creates the mood and exudes the degree of seriousness that is needed to engage everyone.
In addition, the fight against corruption is not affected by the availability of economic resources or lack thereof (Avitus A., 2019; pp.
President Biya himself, after about 4 decades in power has never fulfilled article 66 of the constitution of 1996 by declaring all his property and sources of income.
The notable ones being Marafa Hamidou Yaya [fr], former Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, arrested and convicted for having embezzled US$ 29 million in the case named "presidential jet" by local media, and more recently (March 2019), Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, former Minister of Defence[permanent dead link] arrested on corruption charges with 3 billion FCFA (approx.
[17] These arrests and many others may all seem innocent and driven by Biya's goodwill to fight corruption, but Cameroon political analysts and academics see nothing but deception.
Opération Épervier [fr] (Operation Sparrowhawk – name given by local media for the seasonal arrests of high government officials convicted for corruption) is merely a way used by President Biya to eliminate his political opponents or officials from his own political party that he thinks have grown to accumulate too much power throughout their career and are starting to become a threat to him.
[19] David Wallechinsky ranked President of Cameroon Paul Biya with three others (Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, and King Mswati of Eswatini) as the most corrupt dictators in the world.