The people of Cameroon are disappointed with the management of affairs in the country – Bernard Njonga, President, ACDIC

Bernard Njonga, president of Cameroon's outspoken civil rights movement; Citizens Association for The Defense of Collective Interest, better know by its French language acronym ACDIC, says the people of Cameroon are disappointed with the management of affairs in the country due to high scale corruption by those assigned to serve. Njonga,an anti – corruption activist whose NGO is determine to fight corruption to its logical end in the country, has been drag to court by the government of Cameroon for what many describe as politically motivated reasons.

They believe the Yaounde authorities have embarked upon a legal process which at best is an embarrassment to the regime that makes the fight against corruption its flagship.
Njonga, was summoned to court recently to answer charges against him for holding a meeting that denounced corruption.
The formal charge accuses Njonga of disturbing public order and peace. He had planned to move the meeting which was still taking place within ACDIC’s premises to a peaceful march which did not actually take place.
The incident took place in early December 2008, about a week after Njonga had published a list of senior public officials who had illicitly acquired 49 of 60 Indian tractors given to Cameroon as aid.
The publication caused considerable stir and embarrassment to the Yaounde authorities who then took the first opportunity to pounce on Njonga. After the case was adjourned without hearing, Njonga told reporters that he had absolutely no fear because he was sure of all the facts contained in the ACDIC report.
He said that the government-created anti-corruption commission, CONAC, has picked up the report and is using it to further unravel deep-rooted corruption at the Agriculture ministry. This, he says, vindicates him.
The publication which involved even the most unassailable public officials is believed by some quarters to be responsible for the continue delay in announcing the new government by president Paul Biya, who is said to have been concerned that with the issue still in debate, his new government should not be seen to be carrying names of people on the list.
The so-called tractor scandal list was part of a report which ACDIC sent to its sponsors in Europe.
When Njonga was first charged in December, it was widely believed that because of the bad publicity that the case will give the government, President Paul Biya would order that it should be dropped. The public was still of the same opinion when hearing had been expected to begin, but it did not.
The case was adjourned to 13 February. The magistrate, Mambingo, said he had adjourned it to allow the state prosecutor to put all the facts together.
Meanwhile authorities in Cameroon, refused to grant an entry visa to José Bové, the French international anti-corruption campaigner who had arrived without a visa to attend Njonga's court hearing. The gesture was interpreted as one of panic on the part of the authorities.
Bové is well known in France and in some other European countries and it is believed that he would cause Cameroon negative press reports in France on this matter.

In the following interview grated The Herald shortly before his recent court hearing Njonga, says he prefare going to prison than to stop the fight against corruption. Excerpt on this and more

What is the reason for your presence in court today?

We were arrested on 10 December last year and charged with holding an illegal public manifestation and for disturbing public peace. Contrary to the belief of many that we are charged because of the report we published about corruption in the Agriculture ministry, the police say we were not authorised to hold the meeting.

You pleaded guilty of the charge when you first appeared before the state prosecutor on 12 December. Why?
You are correct. Actually we held our meeting around the headquarters of my NGO, ACDIC. We did so because we thought it was out of the public. But when the police told us that the location of our office constituted part of the public domain we had no option but to accept our mistake. But again we told the police and the state prosecutor that we had written to the DO of Yaounde III to ask for permission and authorisation but he did not reply us.

Now that you have pleaded guilty what would be your reaction if you are sentenced to prison?
I would serve the prison term. If the judge decides from the facts of the case that I merit to go to jail, then fine. But what I have kept on telling them and which they don’t want to bring to the fore is the fact that even though it was an illegal meeting as they claim, we also had good intentions. We were out to denounce and expose deep-rooted corruption and clientelism in the Agriculture ministry. And today even the government has seen that our findings were correct. There was no other way we could get the government to react than to hold that meeting, and so we accept responsibility for any outcome even if it means going to Kondengui.

In one of your findings you said the vice PM in charge of Justice, Amadou Ali, unjustifiably appropriated one of the 60 Indian tractors that were meant to be tested by local farmers. But the vice PM says he merited the tractor as he owns a large farm and a CIG. What is your reaction to this?
That is the vice PM’s part of the story. What we said is that he took a tractor and he did not contradict that. The second point is that the tractors were meant to be tested by local farmers and to be examined if they were adapted to Cameroon’s farming conditions. The question we are asking is whether the vice PM ever tested the tractors. Secondly did he not use his influence as PM to get the tractor? And because the tractors were never tested the Indians never received any report on the tests and we have missed having a tractor assembly plant in our country. That is the point we are making.

Are you deterred by the police harassments and molestations? Don’t you think all what the government is trying to do is to intimidate you so that you can stop carrying on with your investigations?

If they think that they can intimidate me then they are fooling themselves. The truth always reigns supreme and so I have nothing to fear. If I feared intimidation then I would have stopped ever since because it is not today that I started. We are going to continue because we are doing all this for the suffering masses. We cannot accept to suffer in a country blessed with abundance.

Are you satisfied with the way the government reacted to your revelations?
Very satisfied. Everybody could see the interest manifested from all government circles. It was the talk in all government departments, and nobody ever challenged our findings. Instead the anti-corruption commission has picked up the file which has helped them see far more things than we could see. So we are happy.

What about the public’s appraisal?
You are a journalist. I don’t need to tell you. Instead it is you to tell me. The report made headline news in almost all news organs – radio, TV, newspapers, the internet - for several weeks. And it is still the talk of the town. I think this interest from the public only shows how disappointed the people are with the management of affairs in this country.