Batibo Mayor Tenoh’s Arrest: Political Victimization Or Actual Misappropriation?

The Operation Sparrow Hawk better known in French as Operation Epervier has taken a different dimension with the arrest of some mayors in the North West Region. President Paul Biya embarked on fighting corruption and embezzlement in public administration after Cameroon grabbed unchallenged the shameful Trophy of the Most Corrupt country three consecutive times. The Head of State in response to this awful national and international disgrace put in place several structures including CONAC, the Supreme State Audit, the Budgetary and Financial Crime Disciplinary Council and inter-ministerial anti-corruption commissions to fight the gangrene that had elected permanent residence in the public sphere in Cameroon. The results of these various organs to fight corruption have been mitigating, given that some people purported to be involved in grave corrupt practices go scot free while others that are considered to have stolen peanuts are caught and thrown in jail.

But of all the organs set forth by the Head of State to fight corruption, the Operation Sparrow Hawk is the most dreadful as it has picked up top-notch barons of the regime and thrown in jail. It is for this reason that many people have qualified the Operation Sparrow Hawk as a political weapon in the hands of the regime being used indiscriminately to settle political scores. This assertion of political victimization has become more pellucid with the recent arrest of some mayors in the North West Region, especially Tenoh Lawrence, the Mayor of Batibo considered the political hub of the opposition SDF party in the North West Region. This has been considered so as the SDF has ruled and reigned in Batibo since its creation and has often used its crushing votes to cover any political lapses of the Mbengwi constituency.

The wave of arrests that has nabbed some mayors of the North West Region began with Tenoh Lawrence, Mayor of Batibo Council. Tenoh was first picked up on the instructions from the Batibo State Prosecutor and detained on charges of embezzlement of public funds. He was later released on bail only to be finally picked up again and incarcerated in Bamenda. Unconfirmed reports hold that Tenoh Lawrence is being incarcerated for the embezzlement of close to FCFA 20 million, money emanating from the sale of communal stamps put at his disposal by the Treasury Department. However, Tenoh Lawrence’s supporters aver that the mayor is paying the price of his popularity and his stance against some traditional rulers and CPDM bigwigs of the area. They intimate that Tenoh’s arrest is a ploy put in place by his political adversaries to put him out of the way so that they could easily grab the Batibo Council. Tenoh’s supporters argue strongly that their mayor, though not a saint could have not embezzled the sums attributed to him. Some even attest that Tenoh took the stamps and gave them out for some middlemen to sell and has not yet collected all the money from these middlemen, but his enemies are using this weakness to nail him on the cross. They say he is being politically victimized by his detractors that are found even within his SDF party and without. This same school of thought holds that the arrest of mayors is a ploy set in motion by the CPDM regime to prove that not only CPDM barons are corrupt but also the SDF that has been criticizing the regime. And that unfortunately Tenoh who had many political enemies had to be the scapegoat.

But this argument that it is the CPDM trying to soil the SDF’s managerial reputation by arresting SDF mayors on charges of embezzlement has been seriously quashed by the other arrests that happened last week involving CPDM mayors as well as SDF mayors. In actual fact before the arrests of Mayor Tenoh Lawrence, a list of some corrupt mayors had made the rounds in the media with the amounts these accused mayors were alleged to have siphoned. When Tenoh Lawrence whose name was on the list was arrested, panic gripped the municipalities of the North West Region, especially the mayors that were cited in the infamous list of embezzlers. But it was Tenoh alone that was first picked up and as days rolled by, those cited in the lists heaved sighs of relieve. Little did they know that the arrest dragnet was slowly but gradually closing up on them. And on Thursday August 16, 2012 they were nabbed in what is considered by many as a spectacular swoop on corrupt mayors. Amongst those picked up is the CPDM Mayor of Andek, Agogho Johnnie who is also the NW President of UCCC. He is tagged for haven siphoned FCFA 34 million. The Mbengwi Council Mayor, Tah George Mbah was equally nabbed in the swoop and is alleged to have embezzled FCFA 20 million. Former SDF Mayor of Andek, Awanakam Godlove who after quitting the helm of the Andek council was living in opulence was also picked up for the embezzlement of FCFA 4 million while he was mayor. Another victim is the CPDM 1^st Deputy Mayor of Njikwa, Amahndong who is alleged to have been ‘big-eyed’ and dipped his hands too deep into the council coffers for his personal use.

Selective Arrests Cast Doubts On Exercise

Actually, the issue of arresting mayors and throwing them in prison is not new in Cameroon. How the Mayor of Njombe-Penja was picked-up and incarcerated before going through a kangaroo judgment that slammed him a life jail term are still fresh in the memories of most alert Cameroonians. And till date the Njombe-Penja Mayor, Paul Eric Kingue argues strongly that his arrest and incarceration is politically motivated. This comes to confirm the allegation that most of the arrests are politically motivated, for if not why should the Supreme State Audit barely invite some embezzlers and question them in posh offices and ask them to pay the huge sums they have embezzled while others go through the grilling of the Judicial Police officers and are thrown in jail upon mere suspicion of embezzlement?

The lists of the names of mayors accused of embezzlement circulating in the North West Region has the names of Ntoi Daniel, mayor of Ndop as haven embezzled FCFA 9.7 million just like his colleague of Balikumbat Council, Wasum Augustine who is equally alleged to have siphoned FCFA 9.7 million. Why the delays in their arrests while others that have been accused of embezzling lesser sums have been nabbed? Are they being politically protected while others who have no political God fathers are being victimized? Why does the justice system apply different measures to the same weights? Chances are that those that have been accused of embezzlement and have not been arrested yet can look for financial means to lock the holes they created or that they can bribe their way through justice. Another possibility is that the delay in arresting those earmarked for arrest can force them to escape by moving out of the country. In such circumstances they would have dribbled both government and their municipalities for in an attempt to escape, chances are that they will carry along more council funds. Also the delay in their arrests can permit them to forge and falsify documents that incriminated them.

Thus the selective arrest of those accused of embezzlement cast doubts on the intentions of the exercise. Is it actually out to purge the society of embezzlers or to purge the society of those considered as threats to some politicians? Their appearance in court in the days ahead to argue their cases may unearth more cans of worms.