Kini Nsom
4 April 2008
The anti-corruption 'hawk' might soon swoop on the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, who is accused of alleged embezzlement at the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House.
Following the arrest of former Ministers Polycarpe Abah Abah and Urbain Olanguena Awono, and some of their collaborators on Monday, March 31, security sources say investigators of financial crimes are beaming their searchlight towards Cavaye whose name appears number 64 in a long list of State officials suspected of committing financial and economic crimes.
The Post learned that since the list of alleged economic criminals was established, in September 2007, investigations have been gradually gathering incriminating evidence against the man who has been House Speaker for close to two decades.
It was also gathered that following pressure from international financial bodies, President Paul Biya would not mind sacrificing some of his closest collaborators in the anti-corruption fight.
Perhaps, this explains why the names of some barons of the Biya regime and ministers feature prominently in the list of those to be investigated for financial crimes. They include Marafa Hamidou Yaya, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Laurent Esso, Secretary General at the Presidency, Grègoire Sebastian Owona, Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with the National Assembly and Deputy Scribe of the ruling CPDM party, the Delegate General of the National Security, Edgar Alain Abraham Mebe Ngoo, Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of Economic Planning Programming and Regional Development, among others.
The list, which was reportedly established by one Dooh Collins Francis, an international investigator on economic crimes on the orders of the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Amadou Ali, is said to be hinged on the huge accounts of the suspects in foreign banks.
But during a question and answer session at the National Assembly last week, Amadou Ali denied having ordered Dooh Collins Francis to conduct any investigation. But it would be a curious coincidence that the names of all those government officials who have been arrested on charges of corruption are on the list.
The list that has 65 names of alleged economic criminals carries the photo of each of them and their thumb print in the appendix. It also carries detail information about the suspects including their professions, place and date of birth and what position they have or are occupying in government.
Amadou Ali, however, announced that the judiciary was investigating some 20 files in collaboration with the Supreme State Control, noting that all the personalities involved in it, would be picked up for questioning.
If all the suspects in the list were to be found guilty, almost all the movers and shakers of the Biya regime, will go to jail.
Abah Abah Collapses In Police Cell
Meanwhile, the former Minister of Finance and Economy, Polycarpe Abah Abah on Wednesday, April 2 collapsed in the judicial police cell where he was kept in custody.
Following his collapse, The Post learned, his wife Caroline Dorice Meva'a Abah Abah, brought in two doctors, insisting that he be taken to a particular clinic.
But police authorities refused, stating that they have their own doctor for people who are under detention. The former Minister was later driven to an unidentified hospital under heavy police escort.
Following accusations that as Director of Taxation, Abah Abah embezzled billions of FCFA Value Added Tax VAT, the former Minister was picked up with some of his close collaborators.
Many stakeholders could not come to terms with the fact that billions of the VAT tax were paid into Abah Abah's private account at the CBC Bank. In June 2000, the then SDF Parliamentary Group leader, Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam, raised a motion at the National Assembly, calling for the creation of a parliamentary commission of enquiry to investigate Abah Abah's alleged embezzlement of tax money.
"I was ignored, President Biya instead later on appointed Abah Abah Minister of Finance. But today I am vindicated by his arrest," Mbah Ndam remarked in a chat with The Post.
For the past three days, the two former ministers and their "accomplices in crime" are said to be interrogated many hours a day as investigations initiated by the State Counsel for the Mfoundi High Court, Justice Ntamark Fils, continue.
After their arrest, the two ministers were reportedly taken back to their respective homes on April 1, for a thorough search.It is not clear whether any more incriminating evidence was uncovered from the search.
For one thing, almost everybody in Abah Abah's family seems to be implicated in the case. Abah Abah's wife and all his children are said to be targeted for interrogation. Thus, Abah Abah's daughter, Simeone Josiane Abah Abah, 29, and Silvie Paulette Abah Abah, 26, would have to explain their extravagant lives to the police. His two sons, Aristide Stephane Abah Abah and Thiery Abah Meva'a will also face the same music. Abah Abah's private secretary Lucian Meva'a is likely to face the same fate too.
One of Abah Abah's lawyers, Barrister Nouga, complained that the judicial authorities were violating the new Criminal Procedure Code by making it difficult for lawyers and doctors to attain to their detained clients.
The lawyers of one of the detainees, Barrister Francis Bipan, equally complained that police blocked him from visiting his clients in cell. One of the former Minister's collaborators, Luc Etogo Mbezele, (former Director of Treasury) was released on bail due to health reasons.
Although no concrete charges have been established, Olanguena Awono, who was arrested at his Emana residence, is being interrogated on claims that he tampered with over FCFA 70 billion donated by the Global Health Fund for the fight against HIVAIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.
This explains why Dr. Maurice Feuzeu, the erstwhile Coordinator of the National AIDS Control Committee, Dr. Raphael Therese Okalla, Permanent Secretary of the National Malaria Control Programme, the Coordinator of the Tuberculosis Control Committee among others, are also languishing in detention.
They are accused of having been lining their pockets with the Global Fund money while malaria, HIVAIDS and tuberculosis continue to kill Cameroonians.The suspects are under heavy surveillance at the judicial police headquarters. According to a service note issued by the Judicial Police Director, Senior Police Superintendent, Atebe Onguene, every other file at the place is suspended until all the suspects are interrogated.
From the twist of things, the spectre of a heavy sentence hangs over the suspects if they are finally found guilty of embezzling State funds. For now, they are in pre-trial detention in order to allow the free flow of preliminary inquiries.
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of former External Relations Minister, Jean Marie Atangana Mebara, who is also being hunted in connection with the embezzlement of State funds, is still unknown.
SW AIDS PTG Coordinator Arrested
The Southwest Coordinator of the Provincial Technical Group, PTG, for the National AIDS Control Committee, Dr. Rose Fonchingong was arrested by the judicial police in Buea on Monday March 31. She was whisked to Yaounde, where she will be answering charges of misappropriation of HIV/AIDS funds, The Post gathered. Her arrest was at the behest of the Delegate General of National Security.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Post. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
