MINESEC Case: Court awaits prosecution’s submission

Deliberations on the case will continue on July 30, 2015 at the Special Criminal Court.

Hearing in the case opposing the State of Cameroon (Ministry of Secondary Education) to the former Secretary of State at the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC), late Eyenga Abena Catherine, alongside 27 co-accused, which began about a year ago at the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in Yaounde is still on-going with the court awaiting the intermediary submission of the Legal Department on the state of 18 of the accused persons.

The case against the main accused, late Eyenga Abena Catherine, was dropped by the court after she passed on. The former Secretary of State was supposed to have answered questions regarding the alleged misappropriation of public funds amounting to FCFA 55,097,000 which represented personal premiums and payments for others. Other accused in the case are also being prosecuted for either misappropriating public funds or complicity in the embezzlement of public funds. The offences were committed between 2005 and 2006.

During the last hearing on May, 26, 2015 at the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in Yaounde, the Head of the Legal Department, Advocate General Didier Edjisna, requested more time to present his intermediary submission in the matter. He acknowledged the fact that during the court session before last, he had asked for an adjournment of the case to permit him prepares his intermediary submission.

However, Didier Edjisna noted that his intermediary submission was not still ready because he was awaiting the final decision of the SCC’s State Counsel on the fate of 18 accused persons in the case, who have refunded the money they are accused of misappropriating into the public treasury. According to the Advocate General, charges against such persons had to be dropped. The case will be called up again at the SCC on July 30, 2015.