Monday, October 31, 2005

CAMEROON Is Still Extremely Corrupt - Brian Cooksey

CAMEROON Is Still Extremely Corrupt - Brian Cooksey
Ici Cemac - Cameroon
Despite Cameroon's slight improvement on Transparency International, TI, corruption perception index, from 2.1 last year to 2.2 on a score of 10 this year, Dr ...

"...The Post: As a member of Transparency International, TI, in Tanzania and having lived and worked in Cameroon some 35 years ago, would you want to assess Cameroon's position on the corruption chart?

Dr. Brian Cooksey: I was in Buea in 1970, where I taught in Government Bilingual High School Molyko. A couple of years later, I went over to Yaounde where I spent two years doing research in the education sector. During my stay in Cameroon, there were two things that caught my attention. One, there was very little in the way of open speech or public press, or civil society or competitive politics.
Since it was a one party state, people did not talk much about politics in public because they were scared somebody was listening. Today, I have seen a big change in that perspective. You have now got competitive politics; you have got a relatively free press; there are private TV and radio stations and people are much more prepared to talk openly about these problems. ..."

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