Gold, oil, and timber pillaged: Issa Tchiroma Bakary exposes over 10,000 billion FCFA lost to corruption in Cameroon
Issa Tchiroma Bakary has issued a statement detailing massive corruption under President Paul Biya’s regime, revealing staggering figures of embezzlement. He said he was prompted by the discovery of 2,000 billion FCFA in stolen gold and ordered his teams to investigate the state of public finances, uncovering a trail of anger and shock. Over 43 years, Biya has allegedly driven Cameroon from relative prosperity to absolute poverty.
Pillage of natural resources
The first area of predation concerns subsoil resources, particularly oil. The SNH (National Hydrocarbons Corporation) generated oil revenues outside the budget, without parliamentary control or transparency for 40 years. The IMF, World Bank, and EITI reported massive flows leaving the country without appearing in official accounts. Oil sold to Glencore at less than 30% of its value, missing cargoes, and unrecorded SNH revenues total several thousand billion FCFA. Forests suffered the same fate, with 80% of timber sold illegally. Cameroon’s land was openly looted with state complicity. In sum, between gold, oil, and timber, over 10,000 billion FCFA have vanished.
Direct embezzlement of public funds
The second area involves direct fraud in public procurement. Budget lines 65 and 94 for 2012–2021 were simply erased, representing 5,400 billion FCFA in unjustified expenditures. The TCS (Special Criminal Court), created by Biya himself, convicted his own officials for nearly 9,000 billion FCFA in embezzlement between 1997 and 2021. Additionally, the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury reported over 20,000 ghost employees on the payroll for years, causing annual losses of about 200 billion FCFA. Major scandals like the Yaoundé-Douala highway, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, and COVID-19 vaccines featured documented overbilling exceeding 500 billion FCFA.
Tax and customs fraud
The third area covers tax and customs fraud. ANIF (National Financial Investigation Agency) and CONAC (National Anti-Corruption Commission) documented systemic fraud mechanisms. Official figures show 1,665 billion FCFA in suspicious flows in 2023 alone, 1,246 billion FCFA in documented customs fraud over six years, and 1,745 billion FCFA in scanning fraud at the Douala port attributed to SGS. This explains the troubling spectacle at the Douala port since 2026, with two regime factions battling over control of institutionalized fraud.
Personal enrichment of the Biya clan
The fourth and final area concerns personal enrichment of the clan. The Biya family is alleged to have industrially embezzled public wealth to acquire personal assets in Cameroon, France, and the Middle East. Dutch authorities identified 744 million euros in illicitly acquired assets in France, plus the Nyom estate of the SGPR (Secretary General of the Presidency) valued at 18 billion FCFA, properties in Dubai estimated at 44 billion FCFA, and stays at Geneva’s Hotel Continental costing $50,000 per night for the entire delegation. Biya, his wife, son, the SGPR, and other senior officials amassed huge personal fortunes without ever complying with the constitutional asset declaration requirement (Article 66).
Bakary concluded that the total predation is revolting, with a conservative estimate of 26,000 billion FCFA. This is a lower bound, as the regime perfected concealment through nominees and tax havens. Reasonable extrapolation suggests the real amount could reach 80,000 billion FCFA. To illustrate, 26,000 billion FCFA could pay 36 years of salaries for all 380,000 teachers, healthcare workers, and soldiers combined, or build 2,600 district hospitals (260 per region). He declared there will be no amnesty or secret negotiations trading impunity for a silent transition. Any senior official guilty of malpractice will face justice at national and international levels.
