A session of the West Regional Court of Appeal ended abruptly on November 12, 2024, after a litigant confessed offering a bribe of FCFA 11 million to sway justice in his favor.
The litigant said he offered the money through a state counsel and a retired military officer.
The litigant, Fako Hako Patrick, made the revelation during a court session, prompting the court’s Vice President to suspend the hearing.
He is being prosecuted for fraud, according to his defense counsel .
A statement from Barrister Boubda, Counsel for the litigant, dissociated the involvement of the President of the Appeal Court, Francois Xavier Mbono, in the scandal, contrary to widespread rumours.
According to the lawyer, a State Counsel serving in Mbouda and a retired military officer collected the sum of FCFA 11 million from his client to influence the president of the Appeal Court in his favour.
“Before the panel of judges of the Court of Appeal, Mr. Hako Fako Patrick rather wanted to denounce the fallacious maneuvers that he attributed to Mr. Ngong Guillaume, Deputy State Counsel at the Courts of Mbouda and to the retired Colonel-Doctor Affana who, claiming to act on behalf of Mr. President of the Court of Appeal, extorted from him, on various occasions and for fallacious reasons, significant sums of money,” Barrister Boubda said in a statement seen by MMI.
The two individuals he said, “took advantage of their supposed familiarity with the President of the Court of Appeal to determine him to pay the total sum approximately 11,000,000 FCFA; a sum which, upon verification, was used by themselves without at any time the President of the Court of Appeal being associated with their maneuvers.”
The president of the Appeal Court, whose name is mentioned in the case, has not issued a public reaction.
The defense lawyer claims he is not implicated.
