Issa Tchiroma: Wounded Minister Trapped By Corruption Scandals

Issa Tchiroma cuts the picture of a disgraced and thoroughly embarrassed Minister clinging desperately to

anything to save his hugely tarnished image and political career. President Biya must stop Tchiroma’s dance of shame and save the government whatever is left of its credibility by sacking him immediately.


By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai*

    To a man with a hammer, Mark Twain once said, everything looks like a nail. One hammer that has seen lots of use recently is that wielded by Issa Tchiroma Bakary. It is hard not to pity Tchiroma for digging and falling into his own grave. The talkative Communications Minister has been working overtime, patching here; tinkering there; his image is in shambles, his reputation in tatters and his credibility even amongst his own die-hard supporters has been called to question. As the candles flicker and the wheels continue to come off; for Issa Tchiroma, it never rains but it pours.

     Some stories are best told straight. In his 4th open letter to the President, Marafa Hamidou Yaya accused Tchiroma and other senior government officials of embezzlement of FCFA 32.5 billion 1995 Camair plane crash blood money. Tchiroma was then Minister of Transport. From the sequence of undisputed facts, the money was paid into a private bank account in France owned by Foumane Akame. The details of the transaction are an open secret, so the hiatus of denials and defensive, infantile homilies, hop scotched by Tchiroma are anything but convincing. The President has ordered a judicial inquiry after the SDF request for a Parliamentary probe was scuttled by CPDM MPs. Questions therefore remain whether the probe would be free and fair, since it is akin to setting up a rat to catch another rat.

    This scandal preceded another scandal; no less significant and tantalizing in which the beleaguered, Tchiroma claimed to have used Cameroonian taxpayers’ money to subsidized international media organs like the BBC as part of government subsidy to the private media. Since then, Tchiroma has tried, though unsuccessfully, to absolve himself of any wrongdoing. But like a bad headache, the scandals have refused to go away, forcing Tchiroma to keep making public statements that expose him as a hardened, unrepentant crook who is like a thief caught with his hand in the cashbox, but still claims he was only checking the color of the money.

     In one such silly statement, Tchiroma told his party faithful in Garoua that the FCFA 32.5 billion paid as indemnity to the crash victims by South African Airways was paid directly into government coffers at a time when he was no longer in government. If this is not magic, what else could be more befuddling? Someone better shout Halleluiah? Amen! Tchiroma is lying in his teeth. Such logic-defying explanation is a belated, face-saving attempt at damage control which raises further questions and exposes Tchiroma’s desperation and lack of moral character.

     Rather than employ unassailable evidence to shoot down the allegations against him, Tchiroma resorted to sophism and opted for the easy way out: run away from his record. Where is the proof that the money was paid into government coffers? More tellingly, why did it take him so long to disclose this to Cameroonians? It just doesn’t make sense. Whether out of choice or infirmity, this strategy of shifting the goalposts with circumlocutious bloviating is still self-defeating. It is only in Cameroon that a Minister would scorn public criticisms of official misconduct, defy requests for accountability and still retain his high profile position in government. The debate whether or not he was in government when the money was paid is a cleverly contrived distraction as the indignity associated with the scandal does not make him ethically immaculate. No one should therefore be mystified by this latest attempt to confuse the key issues in this scandal. The key question remains: where is the money since the victims were never indemnified?

     For emphasis, there are many points involved in this scandal, but when the money was paid is irrelevant. The first point is the criminal negligence in the maintenance contract that caused the crash in the first place. The second point is why the money was paid into a private bank account. The third point is whether due process was observed. The fourth point is whether the money was paid into the national treasury. If it was, under which budgetary head; if it wasn't, where is the money? The fifth point is why family members of the victims were not involved. The sixth point is those aspects of Tchiroma that should attract close scrutiny of the judicial investigation: his leadership quality, his honesty, his moral character and his ability to continue serving as a member of government.

     Tchiroma is a wounded Minister walking on moral stilts. His image has been battered. He is now the subject of newspaper headlines and cartoons. If he is certain about his innocence, if he is concerned about the impact of this salacious affair on the integrity of the government (not to forget his own patchy morality), he should step aside to facilitate the judicial inquiry, which is guaranteed to produce one of two outcomes: a moral acquittal that should help cleanse the stench that has been gushing out of Tchiroma’s office since the scandal broke; or an indictment that would shred forever his name, his honor and his status in society. If he refuses to step aside, he can only expect to continue discrediting and embarrassing the government.

     The contention that Tchiroma should not step aside because he has not been found guilty is not in sync with established democratic practices; which is that public office holders accused of grave misconduct (as in this case) must step aside so that the investigation is not impeded. For clarity, stepping aside is not a guilty verdict, nor does it imply innocence on the part of an accused. We concede to Tchiroma the right to defend himself which is a fundamental human right. But if the President’s Men involved in the scandal have committed a crime, they should be punished according to the law.

     Tchiroma is a troubled Minister. As long as allegations of official misconduct continue to swirl around him, he will forever be distracted from his official duties. The distraction will come chiefly from scandals that have weakened his capacity to function effectively as he struggles to douse the smoldering inferno that threatens to consume his political career and send him back to jail from whither he came. It is certainly not a good evidence of moral leadership for a Minister to be confronted with daunting allegations of corruption so glaring as to confound even his own supporters.

     Even if Tchiroma wrestles himself successfully out of this mess, he would be remembered ignominiously as the man who brought the high office of Communications Minister and government spokesman to public ridicule and disrepute. Tchiroma also would have damaged irrevocably the dignity and integrity associated with high public office as his actions have shown that corruption is clearly embedded in the definition of due process as it applies to the Biya government. What would it profit Tchiroma to shrug off this debilitating scandal and continue in office as Minister? Only Tchiroma can answer this question.

*Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai is a public intellectual and graduate of Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government where he was Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of African-American Public Policy. A former Research Analyst for Central Africa with Freedom House, he is a consultant and lives in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Talk back at ekinneh@yahoo.com.