Joe Dinga Pefok
30 November 2008
Investigation in the case of alleged embezzlement against the former General Manager of the Cameroon Shipyard and Industrial Engineering Ltd, CNIC, Zaccheus Forjindam, is once more deadlocked.
The deadlock seems to confirm Forjindam's objection that the documents purportedly bearing his signature were forged. The controversy is centred on a dispute over the authenticity of documents presented to the judiciary by the auditor, Charles Kooh II, which he claims incriminate Forjindam.
The Post learnt that the documents presented were photocopies and the auditor is unable to produce their originals.Both Forjindam and CNIC Interim General Manager, Antoine Bikoro Alo'o, as well as Kooh appeared before the Examining Magistrate of the Wouri High Court, Ejike-Vieux, on November 21.
Apparently, the Examining Magistrate had hoped to find a way out of the deadlock by bringing in members of a team of inspectors from the Higher State Control, who reportedly carried out an audit at CNIC.
Even though the said auditors were summoned to appear at the Wouri High Court, none of them turned up.However, The Post learnt that the Higher State Control is not supposed to be part of the case, considering that the audit report conducted by members of the institution was not considered when Forjindam was arrested.
It is said that authorities of the Higher State Control feel that the institution was slighted, when some big guns got the judiciary to ignore the audit report which was conducted by the team from the state institution at CNIC.
Rather, the arrest on May 7 of Forjindam and the then Director of Human Resources at CNIC, Mrs. Rose Constance Njoh Massot, was based on an audit report done by a private firm that was unilaterally brought in by the National Hydrocarbons Corporation, SNH.
Forjindam's Memo To Amadou Ali
Meanwhile, there is a memorandum dated April 1, 2008, which Forjindam addressed to the Vice Prime Minister in charge of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Amadou Ali. In the memo, Forjindam stated that after SNH and CNIC had operated for seven years without any problem, the authorities of SNH became rather jealous, when CNIC was cited by President Biya as an example of a succeeding Cameroonian company.
Forjindam stated in the memo that by 2005, the authorities of SNH through Antoine Bikolo were geared at doing everything possible to have him replaced as General Manager.
Forjindam said it was in line with this plot that towards the end of 2005, SNH unilaterally ordered for an audit of the company by a private audit firm.
"It should be noted that in violation of all ethical rules and deontology in matters of audit, Mr. Antoine Bikolo mounted pressure on one of the auditors of the firm chosen by SNH, that he should do everything to heap many faults against the General Manager," Forjindam's memo states.
Talking about CNIC's long-serving auditor, Kooh II, Forjindam noted that during most of the period when the private firm was doing its audit, Kooh was at the Kondengui Prison in connection with alleged embezzlement at Credit Foncier du Cameroun.
Going by Forjindam's memo, as soon as Kooh was released he was pressurised by SNH to write the conclusion of the audit report done by CAC. He said Kooh, who joined the plot to unseat him, went ahead to write the conclusion of the audit report and even signed it.
The audit report, Forjindam stated, indicted him for alleged embezzlement.
Considering the alleged complicity between Bikoro and Kooh, and considering the nature of the audit report, it is believed that the two are unable to provide genuine justifications for the charges of embezzlement which their audit report raised against Forjindam.
It is also believed that since the Higher State Control was sidelined and its audit report not considered when Forjindam was arrested, it will not want to get involved in the matter. Sources close to the Higher State Control explained to The Post that when members of the institution officially carry out an audit, they unfailingly show up in court when invited, to defend their report.
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