This was made known through an administrative note addressed to regional governors, prefects and sub-prefects in Cameroon.
Paul Atanga Nji to whom the minister of Forests and Wildlife reported the wrongdoings, deplored the collusion and malpractices, involving many traditional leaders, officials, and administrative authorities in illegal forestry activities.
Given the scale of the phenomenon, Mr. Atanga Nji asked officials to kindly ensure, each in his command unit, the strict enforcement of the country’s forest and wildlife laws.
According to the results of a study published in May 2016 by the NGO Forest and Rural Development (FODER), the forest and wildlife sector is one of the most affected by corruption in Cameroon.
The intensity of the level of corruption was estimated at 7.27/10 in 2010; 6.44/10 in 2013; 5.13/10 in 2014 and 5.78/10 in 2015.
This investigative study, entitled “Failure of anti-corruption initiatives or slackness of the Ministry of Forest and Wildlife in the fight against corruption” comes up with a very high degree of corruption among judges, local officials (MPs and senators), administrative authorities, local indigenous communities, the private sector or civil society.