corruption in Cameroon

Introduction

Cameroon underwent a long period of structural adjustment during the past 17 years.                Preceding the devaluation of the CFA Franc in 1994, drastic cuts in expenditure were agreed to without much thought to long term sustainability. An example of these harsh measures is    the 50% decrease in the nominal level of civil service salaries which was compounded by the successive decreases in purchasing power. This plight changes badly our attitudes and             increased corruption attempt. But why is corruption? Corruption is defined as the abuse of       entrusted power for private benefit, it is also defined here as the misuse of public office for    private gain. It is           perceived to be more widespread in some countries than others. Understanding this is important for several reasons. Yet very little is known conclusively about what causes corruption to be higher in one place to another in one society to another in one sector  to another,then tell something about the manifestations and the impacts of corruption in         Cameroon and also purpose some results at the end.

      I.            The causes of corruption in Cameroon

Why do officials misuse public office for private gain? Why do those in some countries seem to do so more often and for relatively larger payoffs? Economists and political scientist have  offered various conjectures. The causes of corruption are many and varied; some people are    corrupt because of their position or post, their mentality, while others are corrupt because of     their poor status in society and also because of the presence of moral decadence. Thus, we    can      enumerate these causes :

ü  The instability policy;

ü  Too much or too little political instability;

ü  Too much extensive state intervention;

ü  Too low government wages;

ü  The social disequilibrium, in this case some part of people is very rich and the other    part is very poor;

ü  The transaction with friends and family members to encourage facility.

Societal organization to monitor and protest abuses will be weaker. A related argument links  corruption to ethnic polarization. In deeply divided societies, the demand for corruption          services may be higher at any given price. For one thing, generalized trust is likely to be lower.        Members of ethnic groups may feel that demanding favors from co-ethnics in office is    the only effective way to obtain government services. At the same time, the supply of their     ethnicity : fear of social ostracism may make them reluctant to refuse their co-ethnics demands, various         scholars have argued that competition between different ethnic groups within   the same state   has at  times fostered patronage politics and bureaucratic predation.

ü  Public policies:finally, some argue that whatever the nature of political institutions,it is the policies actually adopted by those in power that determine the extent of corruption. In economies with extensive state regulation, greater opportunities for venality exist.

   II.            The manifestation of corruption in Cameroon

One of the features of most countries is corruption that exists in the private as well as the       public sector. There are different factors that make one country more corrupt than others.       These may include the level of education, the degree to which political rights are granted,       per capita income, the degree of competition, pay rate in civil service, and so on.

It can examine itself though the demonstration of the corruption, those are :

·         Police checks:the corruption of police officers sometime forcing drivers to pay much   than the legal payment.

·         The Cameroon tribune reported who forced to pay an illegal commission by a               customer to get money from their saving accounts.

·         The ministers who steal the government’s money and put in the private accounts.

·         Tax audits, discounts are planned following private meeting with the controller

These demonstrations bring many consequences on inflation,on investment on gross domestic product…

III.            The impacts or consequences of corruption in Cameroon

The impact of corruption on different sectors of an economy or on different macro variables is a relatively new area of research in economics that has been getting attention inrecent years. We have the impact of corruption on inflation, on investment,on public investment, on            economic growth, on government income, on the quality of infrastructures, on productivity,   on real exchange rate, on gross domestic product, on the quality of road and so on.

1.      The impact of corruption on inflation is investigated by Cukierman, Edwards, and  Tabellini (1992), who argue that countries with more corruption like Cameroon have   inefficient tax systems, inducing governments to resort to inflationary tax policies. Therefore, they conclude that countries with more corruption are subject to high inflation  rates. Al-Marhubi (2000) provides an empirical counterpart by analyzing the relationship between inflation and corruption using cross-sectional data from 41 countries and  finds a significantly positive relationship.

2.      Mauro (1995) examines the relation between corruption and investment as well as  the relation between corruption and economic growth using cross-sectional data. He    finds a significantly negative relation between corruption and both investment and        economic growth. Ehrlich and Lui (1999) arrive at a similar conclusion and argue that such a negative relation is explained as an endogenous outcome of competition           between growth-enhancing and socially unproductive investments. Bardhan (1997,      p. 1322 argues that corruption can hurt economic growth if it takes the form of bribery and that the briber can get away with supplying a low-quality good at a high-quality  price.

3.      The impact of corruption on public investment, government revenue, quality of   infrastructure, and quality of roads is the subject of an empirical study by Tanzi     and Davoodi (1997). They find that corruption lowers economic growth through three       channels: first, by reducing the productivity of public investment; second, by          reducing the standard of infrastructure facility; and,finally, by reducing government    expenditure. Two other studies have looked at the impact of corruption on the size of  government budget relative to gross domestic product (GDP). LaPalombara (1994)     shows that the higher the degree of corruption, the higher the size of government        budget relative to  GDP. Such positive association is contradicted by Elliot (1997),     who employs             cross-sectional data from a larger sample of 83 countries.

Gupta, Davoodi, and Alonso-Terme (1998) argue that the benefits from corruption are likely  to go to wealthy people at the expense of the poor. Thus, corruption results in a higher degree of income inequality. By employing data from 37 countries, they show that there is a              significantly positive relation between corruption and the Gini coefficient. Of course, this was the finding after taking into account the other exogenous variables in the model, such as real per capita income growth, natural resource endowment, years of secondary education, initial  distribution of assets, and social spending (various measures relative to GDP).

Finally, Bahmani-Oskooee and Nasir (2002) argue that since countries with more corruption  do have higher inflation rates and are less productive, following the "productivity bias            hypothesis," they should experience a real depreciation in their currency. They test this            hypothesis by using three different measures of corruption from 65 countries in a            cross-sectional as well as panel setting. Their ordinary least squares (OLS) as well as generalized   least      squares results reveal strong empirical support for their conjecture that countries with more     corruption do experience real depreciations in their currencies. However, they alert    he reader to the fact that such a finding should not encourage countries to become more          corrupt so that  they can gain international competitiveness. Indeed, forces (increased               corruption) that are making a country competitive on one hand are the same forces that are     making the same country   less productive, less efficient, and more prone to inflation on the   other. These later impacts on domestic economy, they argue, could have grave long-run consequences that could more than offset any gain in international competitiveness.

In this article we expand the empirical literature on corruption by investigating its impact on    the black market premium in Cameroon. As the previously mentioned review reveals, no        study has made an attempt to investigate the impact of corruption on the black market             premium. To this end, in the next section we provide our some results to eradicate corruption  in Cameroon.

IV.            The results of corruption in Cameroon

The anti-corruption expert will assist the donor platform on governance and anti-corruption to implement the CHOC project and the complementary assistance. This will involve providing assistance to the donor platform to :

1.  Review all ongoing anti-corruption efforts and facilitate experience exchange and            information sharing among ongoing governance and anti-corruption initiatives.

2. Support priority assessment and monitoring work, with the aim of converting anecdote and hearsay into fact. Expertise from the GOVNET and elsewhere should be called down to    support this work, which will include (i) a political economy study, (ii) sector assessments of   the nature of corruption and its impacts on the delivery of services beginning with education and health so results inform SWAPs under preparation, (iii) development of actionable            governance indicators in key sectors and areas (iv) supporting and analyzing assessments of   national integrity institutions, (v) on-going monitoring of patterns of corruption at different     levels and  institutions, drawing on all available data and reports, (iv) tracking the                        implementation of the range of international instruments in the fight against corruption,      using GOVNET contacts in capitals for support as necessary.

3. Supporting the establishment and reinforcement of anti-corruption alliances at national and sectoral levels. This will involve (i) identifying and collaborating with non-governmental stakeholders including NGOs, private sector, professional associations and media,               (ii) mobilizing diverse stakeholders to be involved in diagnostic work and its follow-up in      terms of media attention, public debate and tracking the responsiveness of Government and    civil society   in addressing particular problems, and  (ii) working with those stakeholders to  determine how to build coalitions and capacity to participate in the fight against corruption.  

4. Supporting improvement in the climate of transparency b (i)support to information       provision;ensuring access to analytical work exposing corruption and governance challenges promoting public advocacy and public debat,particularly by working with the media;analysing follow-up policy options and solutions, (ii) promoting transparency of donor activitiesfacilitating access to reports and studies produced by donors and any other information regarding donor activities on the ground, (iii) creating and maintaining a website for easier access to documents, databases etc, (iv) providing  the anti-corruption focal point for information          sharing and lesson learning, on behalf of all the donors working on corruption issues,              including those working in the sectors, and (v) considering further opportunities for                promoting transparency in sectors important to the international community including the       electoral process, economic governance, state capture and the disconnects between                  government and society.

5. Promoting  debate about international action on the supply side  of corruption such  as asset recovery and banking regulation in OECD countries.

6. Manage the CHOC project, and to coordinate the complementary assistance.

Working arrangements

The anti-corruption expert will be funded from theCHOC project, will be located in theUNDP offices in Yaound and will report to the UNDPresident representative.The expert will work closely with the donor platform on governance and anti-corruption, and will undertake           outreach and information sharing with all donors engaged on governance and anti-corruption, and with domestic stakeholders.

The selected candidate will be expected to commence employment in July 2007.  The initial contract will be for a period of one year, with possibility of extension based on performance.

Skills and experience required

• Demonstrated expertise in West and central African political economies and                preferably in Cameroon and CEMAC in particular.
• Practical field experience in supporting the fight against corruption.
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the concepts of governance, and of     organizational and behavioral change.
• Excellent inter-personal, communication and relationship-building skills.
• Experience of working with international development agencies would be highly        desirable.
• Fluency in French and English languages.

Submission of Applications

Qualified candidates may submit their application.

Some present applications

v  Operation sparrow hawk taking by the ministry of the justice in 2008;

v  Elecam: an institution loaded to look after the good housemaid progress of the election in Cameroon;

v  Conac: commission of struggle against the corruption in Cameroon.

Conclusion

Corruption remains one of the main obstacles in Cameroon and can be found at all levels of    society and in all sectors.

The government continued to take solutions, to spend a lot to develop policies against             corruption without result, which further impoverish.
We believe that a better solution will be adequate to restore the basic level of the Foundation  for reattaching the database, in order to:
 - Changing attitudes;
 - Establish a new education;
 - Encourages the spirit of patriotism;                                                                              

 - control all activities of the state.   

And finally everyone most put a little to his have done with this social disease, and for that we most remain good patriots.

The day when corruption is stopped in Cameroon will be the very day that we shall ware good bye to poverty, wars, crisis; etc…