Since independence, corruption has been more than prevalent in Cameroon. In fact, corruption has become pervasive and has affected all sectors of the government and civil society including the executive, judiciary, police, and even the private sector. The main causes being a deep lack of political will to fight corruption and neopatrimonialism. Other causes include; personal interests and absence of duty conscience, weak judiciary and almost nonexistent opposition in the legislative, nepotism and favouritism, ineffective system of accountability, among others.[citation needed]
Corruption in Cameroon has been called "Cameroon's worst-kept secret" by Thomson Reuters,[1] and Cameroon has had "persistent problems with corruption" according to BBC News.[2] The police are seen by Cameroonians as the most corrupt institution in the government.
The 2023 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index gave Cameroon a score of 27 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Cameroon ranked 140th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.[3] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180).[4] For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries [Note 1] was 33. The highest score in sub-Saharan Africa was 71 and the lowest score was 11.[5]
The government of Cameroon has taken some steps addressing the problem of corruption in the country: in order to increase transparency in its oil sector, Cameroon joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in late 2013.[6]
Cameroon also witnessed the prosecution of corruption committed by a former prime minister, Ephraim Inoni, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2013 for embezzlement. Several high corruption risk sectors, such as customs and public procurement, pose obstacles for doing business in Cameroon.[7]
- ^ Thomson Reuters Why corruption is Cameroon's worst-kept secret 18 Nov 2010
- ^ Cameroon profile BBC News 16 January 2015
- ^ "The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated". Transparency.org. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2023: Cameroon". Transparency.org. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ "CPI 2023 for Sub-Saharan Africa: Impunity for Corrupt Officials, Restricted Civic Space & Limited Access to Justice". Transparency.org. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "Business Corruption in Cameroon". Business Anti-Corruption Portal. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Business Corruption in Cameroon". Business Anti-Corruption Portal. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
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