As UK courts investigate accusations of corruption against Glencore and the oil trader’s activities in Africa, speculation is rife in Cameroon that the affair could have repercussions for President Paul Biya.

On 8 October, Southwark Crown Court in London will open a new hearing in the Glencore case, and Cameroon will again be holding its breath. The case could erupt into an international corruption scandal.

At this and subsequent hearings, it will be a question of putting names to the nebulous figures who are alleged to have received bribes from the oil company – to the tune of some CFA10bn ($16.9bn) in connection with contracts awarded to Cameroon by the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (National Society of Hydrocarbon, SNH).

Expectations dropped on 10 September at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, where the case was called for a preliminary hearing. Despite popular pressure, none of the names of those suspected were mentioned. Yaoundé is waiting for British defendants Martin Wakefield, Alexander Beard and Andrew Gibson, former senior executives of the Anglo-Swiss oil company, to reveal the names of the Cameroonians to whom they are alleged to have paid bribes for the award of oil contracts – and preparing for the impact.

Biya implicated?

As Cameroon’s President Paul Biya looks set to run for re-election in a year, he is grappling with the possible consequences of the Glencore case, which could call into question his commitment to fighting corruption. Two years have passed since former executives of the company confessed to bribing Cameroonian officials, yet no criminal investigation has been launched. This is despite a complaint by SNH to the Special Criminal Court (SCT) asking it to “identify the Cameroonian accomplices in these acts of corruption”.

According to the British defendants, the events took place between 2007 and 2014. Most of those working for SNH or Société Nationale de Refininage (National Society of Refining, Sonara) at the time are still in their positions. However, none have been heard from in an investigation. Is this because the chain of responsibility could go all the way back to the president of Cameroon himself? According to many observers, it is unthinkable that SNH could have awarded contracts at extremely advantageous rates without the presidency being informed.

The minister of state and secretary-general of the presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, also chairs SNH’s board of directors. Yet the government has communicated little about this affair, reinforcing the impression of a lack of transparency that surrounds the management of oil affairs, despite international commitments to financial openness. The only positive development is that the ministry of finance has referred the matter to Swiss and British authorities to defend Cameroon’s interests. Glencore’s Douala-based subsidiary will be subject to a tax reassessment commensurate with the damage suffered by Cameroon’s public finances.

At the very least, the affair reveals major security flaws, since it has been established that aircraft carrying cash could land at Cameroon airports without alerting the attention of the relevant authorities. How did these shipments escape the attention of the customs service and therefore the ministry of finance? This is one of the questions that Wakefield, Beard and Gibson, the British defendants at Southwark Crown Court, will have to answer.

Moudiki on borrowed time?

Who might be the Cameroonians implicated in the Glencore affair ? On 26 July, Biya authorised Ngoh Ngoh to hold an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors of SNH, with a view to replacing Adolphe Moudiki, the long-serving managing director and a long-time ally of the head of state. But the president then changed his mind and in the end prevented the dismissal of his old ally, without explanation. Moudiki is still at the head of SNH, but now appears to be a man on borrowed time.

The matter is all the more delicate for him because his wife, Nathalie Moudiki, is charged with the company’s contractual interests through her position as director of legal affairs at SNH. At 85 years of age, Moudiki will not indulge in any talk of retirement, even though his colleagues say his insight and vigilance have been undermined by illness. He initially denied any involvement in the company that he has run with an iron fist for 31 years, before changing tack.

On 6 November, 2023, he filed a complaint with the TCS to “identify the Cameroonian accomplices in these acts of corruption”. He added that SNH is “confident that the outcome of the proceedings in London will enable the TCS to speed up its investigations”. In Yaoundé, there is no doubt Moudiki is hoping to get the TCS to look into the oil networks of the man who tried to sack him – Ngoh Ngoh, secretary-general of the presidency.

As chairman of SNH’s board of directors since 2011, he is the number two in Cameroon’s executive and the link between President Biya and the oil company, which contributes around 60% of the national budget. Given he is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the president, how could he have allowed the Glencore scandal to emerge, his critics ask. “Technically, you can’t sell at knock-down prices without it showing up in the records presented to the directors, and SNH’s and Sonara’s auditors are turning a blind eye,” said one source.

Reluctance to comment

Against a backdrop of clan warfare around the presidency, Ngoh Ngoh’s enemies are waiting to see him fall. Given the complexity of the Glencore affair and the number of people involved in the alleged acts of corruption, between London, Geneva and Cameroon, is still unknown, could it all come to nothing?

Among the “second tier” figures exposed are Charles Metouck and Ibrahim Talba Malla, the two successive heads of Sonara between 2007 and 2014, when the incidences of corruption are alleged to have taken place. Neither has, as yet, offered a reaction. The former, appointed managing director in 2007, was dismissed and arrested in 2013 before being sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for embezzling CFA514m ($872,000). But the latter, his successor, who held the post from 2013 to 2019, is the current minister delegate in charge of public procurement.

Little known to the public, he is nonetheless a political heavyweight of northern Cameroon, comprising the three regions of Adamaoua, the north and the far north and representing reservoirs of votes on which Biya will be relying in part in the forthcoming elections. No doubt aware of the explosive nature of the situation, Talba Malla’s successors, Jean-Paul Simo Djonou and Harouna Bako, have not so far commented on the Glencore affair, nor on the actions Sonara intends to take to protect its interests and safeguard its image.

Source: The Africa Report

Cameroon’s notorious and ever ailing president, Paul Biya, has finally taken up residence in Switzerland after failing to return to his dirty and constantly deteriorating country, Cameroon, on Wednesday.

The 91-year-old Biya has been dealing with multiple health issues and the burden of age can be seen on his face.

Mr. Biya is unable to walk and he is gradually losing his mind, triggering debates about his ability to continue ruling a country he has deliberately destroyed through corruption and incompetence.

Since leaving China some ten days ago, Mr. Biya has been in Geneva where his doctors are in a rush against time to save the life of the 91-year-old dictator whose mismanagement of his country has triggered a wave of migration from the country.

Thousands of Cameroonians are leaving the country in utter disappointment and there is no sign that things will be changing for the better anytime soon.

Today, there is a vacancy at the country’s presidential palace also known as the Unity Palace. Power is going abegging in Yaoundé and even the military is incapable of saving the country.

Mr. Biya, who once thought he was invincible, is today bowing to the will of time and age. Though he knows he has been a disaster to the country, the 91-year-old is not willing to yield power to his successor for fear that he and his protégés could be dragged to jail.

Biya left Cameroon for Beijing on September 8 for the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

Cameroon Concord News understands he was unable to fly back to Cameroon yesterday and his bill of health after the cancellation has not been officially revealed. The incident has undoubtedly triggered a surge of reactions and conversations among Cameroonians.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Norwegian police said Wednesday that they had detained a German national of Cameroonian heritage for allegedly inciting crimes against humanity in war-torn Cameroon, the first time Norway was embarking on legal proceedings for such crimes.

The man, who is in his 50s, lives in Norway but has not been named. However, Cameroon Intelligence Report has been reliably informed that it is Cho Ayaba Lucas the notorious leader of the Ambazonia Defense Force. He was detained because the National Criminal Investigation Service, known in Norway as KRIPOS, said that they believed he “had a central role in an ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon.”

Anette Berger, the prosecutor in the case, said, “We are in an early phase of the investigation, and there are several investigative steps that remain.”

On Wednesday, KRIPOS would seek his custody from the Oslo District Court “on the basis of the risk of tampering with evidence.”

For the past seven years, a protracted armed conflict known as the Anglophone crisis has devastated communities across the west African country’s two English-speaking regions — officially called Northwest and Southwest — as armed separatists clash with government forces.

Following a crackdown on peaceful protests in 2016, armed rebel groups mobilized and vowed to fight for the independence of the Anglophone areas, which they call Ambazonia.

The ensuing conflict with the Cameroonian military has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 760,000 others, according to the International Crisis Group. The rebel groups, as well as the military and police, have been accused of committing abuses and crimes against civilians.

Source: AP with additional reporting by CIR

President Paul Biya’s health is once again under scrutiny after it emerged the 91-year old leader was unable to board a flight back home late yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that ever since the Cameroonian dictator left the Chinese capital, Beijing, he has been at the mercy of his medical team at the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva.

He was seen at the hotel reception struggling to share a conversation with one of his aides when he was whisked away by his wife Chantal Biya.

Paul Biya is still in Geneva after he first left Cameroon for Beijing on September 8 for the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) reported with footages of a plane carrying Mr. Biya and wife that the ageing leader had left the Chinese capital. But more than ten days later, he hasn’t returned to Yaoundé.

The recent Biya’s flight cancellation highlights just the latest of several health issues he is rumoured to be experiencing.

It has been a subject of speculation since the war in Southern Cameroons began, with the leader having been pictured looking hunched and bloated amid reports he has been treated for an undisclosed cancer.

The 91-year-old’s legs also appeared to buckle during a speech in Beijing.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon needs to organize annual bar exams for trainee lawyers, the Bar Council urges citing a legal requirement that has been neglected for years. In a recent interview with state broadcaster CRTV, Bar President Mbah Eric Mbah explained that the decree of February 20, 1995, governing the final examination for trainee lawyers, mandates an annual exam. However, he lamented that this requirement has not been adhered to, leading to significant problems.

He indicated that the irregular frequency of the exam has pushed many law graduates to seek training in neighboring countries like Nigeria, Sierra Leone, or Rwanda. “I was in Rwanda, where I spoke with 400 fellow Cameroonians,” he said, noting that such training abroad can be problematic due to territorial differences in procedural laws.

While acknowledging budget constraints, he expressed optimism that the government is beginning to address the issue. “In our recent discussions, the current Justice Minister appeared receptive to the concerns raised by the Bar President and the Council, and committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure the annualization of the exam, as required by law,” said Claude Assira, a member of the Bar Council.

However, there has been no official confirmation from the Ministry of Justice that the government will implement the annual bar exam. Many remain skeptical, citing the lack of budget as the primary reason for the delays and doubting whether this issue will be resolved anytime soon. In previous years, low demand for legal services was blamed for the delays, with some suggesting that the long wait periods have actually benefited practicing lawyers.

“This isn’t just an economic issue, although it shouldn’t be ignored. I firmly believe the economic factor can be overcome by broadening the lawyer’s scope of work,” argued Claude Assira.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute chaired a high-level interministerial meeting in Yaoundé on September 19, 2024. The meeting, between governors, regional councilaors and government officials, aimed to address the devastating floods that have caused significant loss of life and extensive property damage in the Far North. According to the national radio, the government reaffirmed its commitment to investigating the “underlying causes” of the flooding and implementing “new preventive measures,” in line with directives from President Paul Biya.

During a 2022 visit to the flood-stricken Yagoua, the capital of the Mayo-Danay department in the Far North, Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji stated that President Biya had requested a thorough study of the causes of the flooding and the necessary measures to address the problem. Local officials in Yagoua pointed out at the time that rivers in northern Cameroon often converge, and rainfall in the Adamaoua region swells the Logone River, exacerbating the flooding. However, a more comprehensive study is still needed to accurately determine the causes.

In the meantime, the government has announced that President Biya has released over 1.6 billion CFA francs to assist affected populations and rebuild critical infrastructure destroyed by the floods, primarily in the Far North region. Paul Atanga Nji began a working visit to the flooded areas on Thursday, where he is meeting with those impacted and distributing humanitarian aid, including temporary shelters, mattresses, blankets, food supplies, and sanitary kits.

The recent floods in the Far North, particularly in the Diamaré, Logone-and-Chari, Mayo-Danay, and Mayo-Tsanaga departments, have wreaked havoc. According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of September 10, 2024, more than 18,000 homes had been destroyed, tens of thousands of hectares of crops flooded, and thousands of livestock lost. Over 33,000 households, representing around 236,000 people, have been affected, including more than 38,000 women of reproductive age and over 4,000 pregnant women. The provisional death toll stands at 17, and schools and health centers have been inundated, according to the Far North’s Governor, Midjiyawa Bakari.

Immediate priority needs include food, shelter, essential household items, and water, hygiene, and sanitation (WASH) services. Local authorities and humanitarian partners are implementing emergency measures to ensure the safety of people and property, including reinforcing the Logone River dike. However, continued rainfall and rising water levels pose an increasing risk of further deterioration and potential outbreaks of disease in the coming days and weeks, OCHA warns.

Source: Sbbc