In Cameroon, immoralism has reached unbearable limits. Most civil servants and bureaucratic elites no longer hesitate to promote corruption and or maintain permanent networks for collecting prebends. One of the sources of the development of corruption in the country is undoubtedly the development by the Yaoundé regime of mediocracy – (or promotion of mediocre, incompetent and undeserving people to positions of administrative responsibility or at the head of public institutions) to the detriment of meritocracy (or promotion of men and women, well trained, seriously prepared and competent in the right place).

A very significant example of what is happening in general in Cameroon was the promotion a few years ago of Mr. Bertrand Pierre Soumbou Angoula, a nephew of Madame Chantal Pulchérie Biya, first lady of Cameroon, as general director of the National School of Administration and Magistracy (NSAM/ENAM). This appointment at the time was a great curiosity. Many citizens still have difficulty understanding the reasons for such a decision by the highest authority of the State. The person appointed to head this institution was simply someone who had just obtained a magisterial diploma from the school one to two years before. He had no other qualification or professional experience. 

How can we explain, for example, that a student who has just obtained his secondary education baccalaureate diploma is immediately appointed as director of a college or principal of a high school! The harmful consequences of such actions were not long in coming. 

The bribes demanded for the unofficial ''sale'' of a place in the Cameroonian government entrance exam to the NSAM/ENAM - the most prestigious public institution of professional training for senior civil servants in territorial administration, the judiciary, customs, finance and taxes, labor, social affairs, according to certain columnists in a local media outlet in Yaoundé -, now represents a prohibitive amount ranging between 15 and 30 million CFA francs (i.e. 30,000 and 60,000 US$)(Statements by Messrs. Ayissi Etoa Perfait, Pierre Bléréau Nymeck and Bernard Owona, Espaces Minés, Info TV, August 22, 2024). 

A few years ago the place “sold” for between 3 million and 5 million CFA Francs (i.e. 6,000 to 10,000 US$). This means that the rarer the jobs, the higher the amount of bribes and the price of corruption.