FCFA 371 million swindled at Bamenda City Council

Vincent Ndumu Nji, the Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council is currently tussling over paperwork to uncover the sum of FCFA 317 million purportedly missing from the council coffers.

Allegations are rife at that the colossal sum of FCFA 317 million disappeared during the tenure of three different municipal treasurers. Since nothing is as secret as the management of funds in councils, where the Municipal Treasurers always play the bosses, one of the treasurers is mentioned to have left a shortage of FCFA 221 million, while two other former treasurers also left a deficit of FCFA 98 million and FCFA 52 million respectively.

Yet it was difficult to detect the deficit until when recently auditors from the Ministry of Finance stormed the council to uncover the financial mess. Whether the money was trafficked by those in the line of control remains another puzzle.

The First Assistant SDO for Mezam during the last administrative, management and store accountant accounts is quoted to have advised the Vincent Ndumu Nji should write to the Minister of Finance to look into the issue.

However, tongues are still waging in Bamenda over the financial mess at the Bamenda City Council. Yet public opinion in Bamenda holds that those in the line of control should be included on the list of suspects. Another school of thought holds that while the treasurers are being followed up, those in the line of control could be questioned and investigated for negligence of duty.