SW Customs Officers and anti-corruption officials at the workshop in Limbe
A campaign to combat corruption and boost customs services revenue visited the sector in Limbe, Cameroon, on Friday, January 17. The initiative, spearheaded by National Director of Customs Edwin Fongod, aims to sensitise customs officers, clearing agents, transporters, and other stakeholders involved in the customs clearance chain.
“We are very happy to receive this Campaign team and we are very much ready to promptly implement all the measures that you will hand down to us today. Like the saying goes, prevention is better than cure,” said Daniel Mongue Nyamsi, Southwest Chief of Sector.
The campaign team, comprising officials from the National Anti-Corruption outfit (CONAC) and African Global Logistics (AGL), emphasised the need to eradicate corruption, which significantly reduces government revenue. “Corruption compromises the efforts of public authorities for the development of our country,” noted Gilbert Christian Onana Nkudu, representative of CONAC.
Cameroon has been actively working to combat corruption in its customs services. In 2009, the Directorate General of Cameroon Customs launched a project to enhance integrity within its administration, in line with the World Customs Organisation’s (WCO) Arusha Declaration.
The country has also implemented various reforms, including the introduction of performance contracts for customs officials. This approach has shown promising results, with revenue increasing by almost 0.3% of Cameroon’s GDP between 2009 and 2012.
Chief of SW Customs Sector, Daniel Nyamsi Mongue welcoming the Anti-corruption sensitisation team lead by Nkengfua Vincent from the General Directorate of Customs.
The ongoing campaign is part of activities marking the 2025 International Customs Day, celebrated on January 26. After Limbe in the Southwest region, the team will visit Kribi and Yaoundé in the coming weeks to promote the initiative.
The Southwest Customs office has in recent years, witnessed an increase in its revenue collection, raising more than it did the previous years, even within the context of the prevailing Anglophone Crisis that has hampered a lot of public and private businesses. The Southwest Customs Sector raised FCFA 49 billion in 2024, up from FCFA 43 billion in 2023.
On a macro level, statistics from CONAC reveal that Cameroon lost over FCFA 120 billion to corruption in 2023.
African Global Logistics and Cameroon’s anti-corruption outfit, CONAC are the organisations facilitating the campaign, which started in Douala on January 14.
The ongoing sensitisation is meant to enable those within the sector to understand that corruption significantly reduces the money that the Government should have been able to use to carry out projects for the benefit of all.
In Limbe, CONAC was represented by Gilbert Christian Onana Nkudu and AGL by Christiane WEA.
The Southwest Chief of Sector, Daniel Mongue Nyamsi, welcomed the team and said he was delighted by the move launched by the Director General because it’s a fight which they, in the Southwest, were very ready to embrace.
In Limbe, the team from CONAC revealed that its report documented reports of malpractices like highway scams, illegal confiscation and detention of goods, fraudulent sales of vehicles, and requests for higher sums of money than those provided for the law among others. “Such practices do not only tarnish the image of the General Directorate of Customs but also compromise the efforts of public authorities for the development of our country,” he said.
