The Cameroon government is not making hay while the sun shines in the Glencore scandal, prompting Barrister Akere Muna who first exposed it to ask for the file to be handed over to him to exploit for the benefit of Cameroon at no cost.
While a country like the Congo DR which has been proactive on the matter has got tens of billions from Glencore, Cameroon has just become interested in the issue after learning that the names of the bribe-takers will be revealed by a London court on 10 September. The trading company had pleaded guilty to having paid bribes to the tune of 7 billion FCFA to high-ranking officials of SNH and SONARA to facilitate a rip-off of the country’s oil reserves. But instead of forcing Glencore to reveal those it bribed to induce them auction away oil at discounts of up to 70 percent in some cases, the management of one of the indicted companies, the Société Nationale d’Hydrocarbures (SNH) has after denying any involvement turned round to announce that it has filed a complaint with the Special Criminal Tribunal in September 2023.
Not satisfied with the approach adopted by Cameroon in the matter, Akere Muna has multiplied outings to show also how as civil party Cameroon can have billions also paid to it in terms of customs fraud and money laundering.
Disappointed that this has not happened, he challenged government at a press conference last Tuesday to hand over the file to him for treatment if it is above them.
He wondered why the Procureur de la Republique had not yet begun in-depth investigations into the file on which taxation and customs officials are already working on. Akere declared his readiness to treat the file for nothing if it were handed over to him by government, arguing that it was not a complicated matter.
“I have challenged them to hand over the file to me to come out with what is necessary if it is above them for nothing”, he told journalists last Tuesday.
Akere had called the press conference to reply to a seven-page message published in French and English titled “No to Manipulation” by SNH, possibly intended to discredit the anti-corruption crusader.
In their lengthy message, which was also discussed by Cameroon Radio and Television, SNH insisted that they never sold to Vittol at a discount greater than 35%.
Akere Muna used the press conference to question why they didnot address the case of 30 percent discount to Glencore. Based on figures obtained from SNH’s reporting to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which were duly published by the former, the international lawyer had reported that SNH sold to Glencore and Vittol at discounts of 30% and 70%, respectively. He participated in several press interviews showcasing these discounted sales directly from the website.
Akere Muna told journalists that on revisiting the site after SNH’s communiqué, he discovered that the figures had been altered: the discount for Glencore was changed from 30% to 15%, and for Vittol from 70% to 35%. He vowed that SNH must explain this discrepancy, noting that he documented proof of the date and time these changes were made.
“I will be preparing a formal complaint demanding that SNH provide answers regarding these alterations,” the anti-corruption activist said in a statement.
