Issa Tchiroma Bakary uncovers over 10 trillion FCFA plundered from Cameroon’s gold, oil, and timber

A recent declaration by Issa Tchiroma Bakary has laid bare the extensive financial abuses plaguing Cameroon, citing massive plundering of gold, oil, and timber resources, fraudulent market diversions via budget lines 65 and 94, widespread tax and customs fraud, and illicit enrichment within President Paul Biya’s inner circle. His statement, supported by compelling figures, exposes the profound systemic corruption.

“Fellow citizens, ladies and gentlemen, I was deeply disturbed by reports of diverted gold, estimated at 2,000 billion francs CFA. This revelation prompted me to instruct my teams in Cameroon and globally to thoroughly investigate the state of public finances, leaving me with a profound sense of outrage, sorrow, astonishment, and indeed, revolt. It is an undeniable truth, my dear compatriots, that over 43 years, Cameroon has regressed from relative prosperity into a state of absolute poverty and destitution for its people.”

Allow me to present the stark realities. The initial facet of this predation involves the country’s subsoil resources, particularly oil. For four decades, the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) generated oil revenues that remained outside budgetary oversight, parliamentary scrutiny, and any semblance of transparency. Both the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) have flagged significant financial flows exiting Cameroon without ever appearing in official accounts. The sale of oil to Glencore at less than 30% of its actual value, coupled with vanished cargoes and unaccounted SNH revenues, collectively amounts to several thousands of billions of FCFA. Cameroon’s forests have suffered a similar fate, with an estimated 80% of timber being sold illegally. Our national territory has been openly plundered, facilitated by state complicity. Ladies and gentlemen, between gold, oil, and timber, more than 10 trillion FCFA have simply vanished.

The second major area of concern pertains to the direct diversion of funds through fraudulent contracts. Budgetary lines 65 and 94, covering the period from 2012 to 2021, have been completely erased. These two lines alone represent 5,400 billion FCFA in expenditures lacking any justification. The Special Criminal Court (TCS), an institution established by President Biya himself, has tried and convicted his own officials for nearly 9 trillion FCFA in embezzlement between 1997 and 2021. Furthermore, what can be said of the phantom employees? According to the Ministry of Finance (Minfi) and the Public Treasury, over 20,000 ghost civil servants remained on payrolls for years. For decades, the annual financial damage from this practice has approached 200 billion FCFA. We all remember the major scandals, including the Yaoundé-Douala highway project, the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2021 preparations, and COVID-19 vaccine procurements, where documented massive overbilling exceeded 500 billion FCFA.

The third component addresses widespread fiscal and customs fraud. Both the National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF) and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC) have confirmed the existence of systemic fraud mechanisms. Their official figures are alarming: 1,665 billion FCFA in suspicious financial flows in 2023 alone; 1,246 billion FCFA in documented customs fraud over six years; and 1,745 billion FCFA attributed to scanning fraud at the Douala port, implicating SGS. Given these figures, ladies and gentlemen, one can better understand the distressing spectacle witnessed at the Douala port since 2026, where SGS and Transatlantic engaged in a dispute over control of the very same institutionalized fraud.

Finally, the fourth and last segment highlights the personal enrichment of the ruling clan. It is well-established that the Biya clan has industrially diverted public wealth to acquire personal assets in Cameroon, France, and the Middle East. Investigations in the Netherlands, for instance, identified 744 million Euros in ill-gotten gains in France. This is in addition to the Nyom estate belonging to the Secretary-General of the Presidency (SGPR), valued at 18 billion FCFA; assets in Dubai estimated at 44 billion FCFA; and stays at the Hôtel Continental in Geneva costing 50,000 dollars per night for the entire delegation. Without exception, Mr. Biya, his wife, his son, the SGPR, the Director of the Civil Cabinet (DCC), the Deputy Director of the Civil Cabinet (DCCA), the Minister of Territorial Administration (MINAT), and many others have accumulated substantial personal fortunes, consistently failing to comply with the constitutional obligation to declare their assets under Article 66.

My dear compatriots, the total sum of this predation is truly revolting. A conservative estimate places the amount at 26 trillion FCFA. This figure represents a lower bound, as this regime has perfected the art of concealment through proxies and tax havens. Through reasoned extrapolation, our experts believe the actual amount could reach 80 trillion FCFA. To illustrate the sheer scale of this plunder, with 26 trillion FCFA, Cameroon could have paid 36 years of salaries for all 380,000 teachers, healthcare workers, and soldiers combined, or constructed 2,600 district hospitals—equivalent to 260 per region.

My fellow citizens, there will be no amnesty or secret negotiations trading impunity for a silent transition. Ladies and gentlemen, every senior official guilty of malversation will be held accountable for their actions before competent national and international jurisdictions.”