Paul Atanga Nji, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency who was summoned to appear before the Special Criminal Court, SCC today, Tuesday Nov. 18 over corruption charges failed to show up.
An Atanga aid who pleaded to remain anonymous told the Journal that upon receiving the summons, Atanga wrote to the President asking whether he should respect it or not being that he’s still a sitting minister. The source said that Atanga is still waiting for the president’s reply. “Until the president replies, I do not think the minister can do anything for now on his own,” he quipped.
It is the second time Atanga is defying the court summons. He was initially summoned last Thursday, November 13, but failed to show up, raising the same argument.
By 3p.m. when our reporter left the special police unit that serves the Special Criminal Court and where the minister’s grilling was supposed to take place , the police were not ready to release any information. Attempts by reporters of the private press who had thronged the area to gather information relating to the case met with snobbish responses from the police officers at the entrance of the compound.
“Are you journalists? If you are, just make a roundabout there because there is no information for you.” A gendarme officer at the guard’s post retorted after reporters enquired to know if the minister had arrived. As the reporters pressed further, the guards threatened locking up any journalist who persisted.
It is not yet clear the exact crime or amount that is imputed on the minister for having embezzled. But The Journal has it on good authority that Atanga’s summons is connected to a racket uncovered by the Supreme State Audit when he served at the Cameroon Postal Services – CAMPOST, in 2011. The audit was based on the financial transactions of the institution between 2004 and 2010.
According to the Supreme State Audit report, Atanga Nji illegally received into his account some 469 MFCFA. The amount, according to the report was deposited into account no. 031562-004-58 bearing the name “Ets des Jeunes homes d’affaires” but owned by Atanga.
