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2007 Assessment

Cameroon: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Cameroon: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Supreme Audit Institution
Indicators		Score
55	In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector?	100
56	Is the supreme audit institution effective?	53
57	Can citizens access reports of the supreme audit institution?	0

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector?

55: In law, is there a national supreme audit institution, auditor general or equivalent agency covering the entire public sector?

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: The Audit Bench created Article 38 (2) of the Constitution of January 18, 1996.

Is the supreme audit institution effective?

56a: In law, the supreme audit institution is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: In accordance with Article 37 (2) of the Constitution of January 18, 1996 (Magistrates of the bench shall, in the discharges of their duties, be governed only by the law and their conscience.) (www.camlaw.org).

56b: In practice, the head of the audit agency is protected from removal without relevant justification.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: - François Bambou, "Comptes publics : mieux en assurer le contrôle de gestion," in La Nouvelle Expression, 26 April 2006 ([ LINK ]). - "La chambre des comptes instruit ses premiers dossiers" ([ LINK ]).

Peer Review Comments: The president of the republic together with the Magistrates Council that he presides over make the decisions and do not render any accounts.

56c: In practice, the audit agency has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: - François Bambou, tChambre des comptes : les personnels à lécole des procédurest, 25 April 2006 ([ LINK ]" target="_blank">[ LINK ]). - "Comptes publics : mieux en assurer le contrôle de gestion", 26 April 2006 (http://www.camerounlink.net). - "La chambre des comptes instruit ses premiers dossiers" ([ LINK ]).

Peer Review Comments: It is still under restructuring.

56d: In practice, audit agency appointments support the independence of the agency.

Score:

100

Comments: Created by the Constitution of January 18, 1996, it is only into 2006 that the Audit Bench took on its functions. It has thus been fully operational only a year.

Peer Review Comments: It is almost completely under the control of the executive.

Peer Review Comments: There is also a Supreme State Audit office headed by a minister and placed under the authority of the presidency. They have many years of existence and are taking care of audits in the ministries and the state companies, but their effectiveness is limited. This can also explain why CONAC (National Anti Corruption Committee) was created.

56e: In practice, the audit agency receives regular funding.

Score:

100

Comments: Created by the Constitution of January 18, 1996, it was only in 2006 that the Audit Bench assumed its functions. It is thus been fully operational for only a year.

References: - Alain Blaise Batongué, Chambre des comptes, Anif, Conac : La lutte contre la corruption bloquée, in Mutations, 27 March 2006 (www.lequotidienmutations.net). - François Bambou, tChambre des comptes : les personnels à lécole des procédurest, 25 April 2006 ([ LINK ]" target="_blank">[ LINK ]). - "Comptes publics : mieux en assurer le contrôle de gestion," 26 April 2006 (http://www.camerounlink.net). - "La chambre des comptes instruit ses premiers dossiers"([ LINK ]).

56f: In practice, the audit agency makes regular public reports.

Score:

100

Comments: Created by the constitution of January 18, 1996, it is only into 2006 that the Audit Bench took its functions. It is thus only one year old. As of this writing, it has not issued a report.

56g: In practice, the government acts on the findings of the audit agency.

Score:

100

Comments: The Audit Bench has only been operational for a year.

Peer Review Comments: Nothing has happened yet.

Peer Review Comments: This is true with the Supreme State Audit office, which is headed by a minister.

56h: In practice, the audit agency is able to initiate its own investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: The Audit Bench has hardly begun its activities, having only been in existence for a year.

The article intitled: "Gouvernance : Evaluation de l'exécution des marchés publics" published in the weekly Repères, 5 december 2007 contains all the informations concerning this aspect In this paper, Mr. Thomas Mbeutcha, Inspector, Chief of the brigade in the ARMP, analyzes the system implementation, monitoring and regulation of public procurement In the other hand, the ARPM have investigated the enterprises named: Tano Enterprise and Safric (Read: Francine Foumane: Marchés Publics: Danger chez Inoni, in La Détente Libre, 02/11/2006)

References: - Alain Blaise Batongué, Chambre des comptes, Anif, Conac : La lutte contre la corruption bloquée, in Mutations, 27/03/2006 (www.lequotidienmutations.net). - "La chambre des comptes instruit ses premiers dossiers" ([ LINK ]). - Serges Olivier Okolé, 'Marché public: une délégation béninoise s'imprègne de l'expérience camerounaise', in Cameroon Tribune, 14/08/2006 - Francine Foumane: Marchés Publics: Danger chez Inoni, in La Détente Libre, 02/11/2006

Peer Review Comments: It has initiated nothing until now.

Can citizens access reports of the supreme audit institution?

57a: In law, citizens can access reports of the audit agency.

Score:

YES

Comments: The Audit Bench is a young institution which has hardly begun its activities. It is only one year old.

References: - Alain Blaise Batongué, Chambre des comptes, Anif, Conac : La lutte contre la corruption bloquée, in Mutations, 27 March 2006 (www.lequotidienmutations.net). - François Bambou, Chambre des comptes : les personnels à lécole des procédures, 25 April 2006 ([ LINK ]). - "La chambre des comptes instruit ses premiers dossiers" ([ LINK ]).

Peer Review Comments: Everything is done in a secretive manner.

57b: In practice, citizens can access audit reports within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The Audit Bench has only been in existence for a year. As such, it has only hardly begun its activities.

References: - Alain Blaise Batongué, Chambre des comptes, Anif, Conac. : La lutte contre la corruption bloquée, in Mutations, 27 March 2006 (www.lequotidienmutations.net). - François Bambou, Chambre des comptes : les personnels à lécole des procédures, 25 April 2006 ([ LINK ]). - "La chambre des comptes instruit ses premiers dossiers" ([ LINK ]).

57c: In practice, citizens can access the audit reports at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: The Audit Bench is a young institution which has only hardly begun its activities. It has been in existence for only a year.