Martin Jumbam

The Mafia of Business Contracts

Revised and reproduced from Le Lien: Nkeng Shalom # 0002 of November 2001.

I operate a translation unit in the American Language Center of Douala. To keep it running, I need long-term customers, who can guarantee me long-term contracts. That is why I have been seriously courting the business community in Douala, even joining a golf club just to be as close as possible to those who, as the saying goes, call the shots in this country – economically-speaking, that is.

And this has been an eye-opener to me, especially the contacts I’ve had with those who negotiate contracts in companies. And he who says contracts in our country, naturally says kickbacks, cash-bloated brown envelopes that surreptitiously change hands under tables, sudden reversals of previously agreed terms at a moment’s notice when fingers have not been properly greased, etc. One particular case comes to mind.

Is the war against bribery and corruption winnable?

Revised and reproduced from Le Lien: Nkeng-Shalom, # 0001 of July 2001, pp 17-18

Ask any ordinary Cameroonian if they think that we, as a people, can win the war against bribery and corruption and the instant answer is likely to be a categorical NO!!  For proof, they would inevitable draw sustenance for their argument from outside sources, notably Transparency International, which recently awarded our country, on two successive occasions, the unenviable title of “the most corrupt country in the world.”

So it would seem we are doomed.  Or, are we?  I have had two revealing experiences over the past two months, which have shown me that the battle against bribery and corruption is perhaps not a lost one – at least not yet.  One experience is negative, the other positive.  I’ll start with the negative one.