Joe Dinga Pefok
3 October 2008
Since Monday, September 29, panic and anxiety have gripped the National Petroleum Distribution Company, SCDP, following the interrogation of the company's General Manager, GM, Jean Baptiste Nguini Effa.
Police had, September 26, grilled the GM at the Judicial Police headquarters in Yaounde.
He was reportedly interrogated in connection with huge deficits discovered in the company's accounts by an audit team from the Higher State Control.
Many close collaborators of the GM are said to be panicking over the prospect that they might also be arrested over the alleged embezzlement.In addition, those workers who have been benefiting from various favours or advantages just because Nguini Effa is GM are said to be nervous about their future in the company.
Audit Report
According to Le Messager of September 29, edition (No. 2707) the team which audited the 2005 and 2006 accounts of SCDP, reportedly discovered that FCFA 775 million and FCFA 600 million respectively had disappeared.
The rumour mill had since gone full blast, screeching that Nguini Effa was about to be arrested in the "Operation Sparrow Hawk" anti-corruption probe.However, this time around, it turned out to be true, as Le Messager carried a lead story which confirmed that the police interrogated the SCDP boss.
The Post learnt that by the time of the audit, the company's 2007 account was allegedly not ready, and so could not be audited.Whatever the case, observers are just imagining how huge the amount of pilfered money could be, after auditing of the petroleum company's account, after long years under Nguini Effa.
7 Others Interrogated
The Post learnt that before Nguini Effa was interrogated, some seven senior personnel of the company had been separately summoned to the headquarters of the Judicial Police in August, for interrogation.
The summons was in connection to the Higher State Control report. Those interrogated, including the company's auditors, were mostly from the Finance Department.At the SCDP headquarters near "Carrefour Agip," the interrogation, according to reports, was never discussed during internal meetings.
Some close collaborators of Nguini Effa, at one point, were quoted to have threatened some unnamed personnel of the company, whom they said were leaking out documents to the press as well as to the police.
The claim, as expected, further scared many workers of the company from discussing the issue of alleged embezzlement, while at work.Things got to a point where many workers of the company would not want to stand in public with a journalist, even if it was a family member or friend.
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