The Mandjou toll gate in the East Region collected up to 325,000 FCFA in just 30 minutes on October 2, in the presence of a team from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC).
CONAC made the revelation on Friday, October 6, at the end of its five-day anti-corruption operation in the East Region.
That was the highest amount that the Mandjou toll gate has ever collected in such a short period of time.
Its average collection for August and September fluctuated between FCFA 200,000 to 300,000, CONAC said.
“We have to specify that CONAC’s presence at this post for about thirty minutes made a daily receipt of 325,000 FCFA,” said CONAC’s Chairman, Dieudonne Massi Gams.
CONAC said officials stationed at the toll gate had been syphoning huge sums of money into their pockets, depriving the state of much-needed resources.
The officer who was in charge of the toll gate has been arrested on corruption charges, Cameroon Tribune reported.
Owing to endemic corruption in the road transport sector, CONAC launched a five-day operation dubbed, “Anti-Corruption Clinic”. The aim was to check corruption in the East Region last week.
The Region’s huge timber and exploits generate billions of francs to the government yearly. However, just half of the actual funds generated actually reach the State.
In 2021, Cameroon lost FCFA 44 billion to corruption, a CONAC report stated.
The report listed the Ministry of Transport among eight most corrupt Ministries in the country that year.
Last year, Transparency International’s corruption perception index ranked Cameroon 142 least corrupt country in the world out of 180 countries.
The country’s score stood at 26/100, a fall from 27 recorded in 2021.
The increased revenue at the Mandjou toll gate is good news for the government. If it remains consistent, it will help the government finance important infrastructure projects and social programs.
The government is due to open 14 automatic toll gates in the country by the end of this year and one of the goals is to stem corruption.
The new toll gates will operate a cashless system, which is deemed more effective in stemming corruption in the road sector.
