allAfrica.com: Cameroon: A British Cameroonian Can Never Be President of La République Du Cameroun

Cameroon: A British Cameroonian Can Never Be President of La République Du Cameroun - Mola Njoh Litumbe

Mola Njoh Litumbe, first chattered accountant in Cameroon and Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Alliance, LDA, sees many things going wrong in the country. Nudging 90, he recalls his good old days in accountancy. In this exclusive interview with The Post, he also lays bare some of the afflictions inherent in the country; cut-throat taxation and corrupt practices that further devastate the economy while rendering Cameroonians poor. Litumbe comments on the lopsided union between La République du Cameroun and Southern Cameroons and the folly of a Southern Cameroonian hoping to rule the country. Excerpts:

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I am the son of the first ordained Presbyterian pastor on this side of the Mungo. I went through the usual elementary schools like Basel Mission, Baptist Mission, Sasse College. Thereafter, I started working in the plantation.

From there, I was awarded a scholarship to London where I qualified as the first Cameroonian chattered accountant in 1957. I practised for many years and I retired 20 years ago and began delving into politics, church work and other issues which affect the community generally. I am the Secretary General of the Bakweri Land Claims Committee as well as Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Alliance, LDA.

What were your experiences as a chattered accountant?

When I started professional practice, there was nobody else. You know, in years gone by, if you did not come from a respectable family, you did not aim at honourable professions like law or accounting. It is because things have changed for the better that is why everybody goes there. And the discipline is very strict and you have to do your work in accordance with certain ethics. I exploited those principles until I retired.

Could you draw a line between the accounting profession of the yesteryears and that of today?

I want the profession to be more disciplined. If I had my way, I would have said that in order not to lead young practising accountants into temptation by negotiating with director generals to falsify the accounts and so on, a public audit corporation should be set up and directors of the corporation should be past presidents of the Institute of Chattered Accountants or top officials like Directors of Taxation and so on.

The corporation would audit practising firms. I would have also preferred that the award of audits be done by a quasi-public body, which would evaluate the strength of various practitioners and award audits only to those practitioners whom they think are capable of delivering the goods. There is no negotiation between the practitioner and the client.

We would like you to comment on the tax policy in Cameroon. Does it encourage investment and generate revenue?

The whole thing has got to be reviewed. The system of taxation can encourage or discourage investors. The manner in which the Department of Taxation is working frightens even people who are supposed to be independent. They tend to crush down even small business owners through astronomical assessments so that they are forced to negotiate with them.

The development of the accountancy profession should be that if the accountants are independent they should certify their accounts, thereby facilitating the tax collection. This business of taxation, acting as auditors to business organisations, imposing tax and penalties just exposes the whole system to corruption because if a person doesn't know the tax code, he is bound to negotiate in order to reduce his burden of taxation and continue to be in business.

That is something to be corrected. Also, accountancy should be developed in such a way that the practitioners are subjected to a very high code of conduct to assist the taxation department where there are certified accounts that the department can rely on the certification.

It was because of false certification that caused problems in the accounting sector in Cameroon in the last few years. For investments to come in, we have got to eradicate corruption because to invest, you have to be certain that if you bring in your money and somebody steals it, you can take him to court and recover your money.

Outside the world of accounting, how do you assess the evolution of democracy in Cameroon from the early 60s till date?

The foundations of Cameroon democracy are wrong. The French Cameroon, which was a trust territory administered by the French got its independence on January 1, 1960. And, according to the provisions of the African Charter and so on, the territorial boundaries of any country are fixed the day it becomes independent.

So, the international boundary of La République du Cameroun was fixed on January 1. 1960. The English-speaking Cameroon territory was not and has never been part of La République du Cameroun, to the extent that La République du Cameroun is wrongly governing the British Cameroon territory. It has been a question of annexation. There is no internationally recognised marriage treaty between La Répubique and Southern Cameroons.

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