This follows the transfer on September 10 of former employees of Glencore Company before the Westminster Court in London, according to a press release dated August 2, 2024 and signed by the CEO of SNH, Adolphe Moudiki.
This is a new turn that the Glencore case is taking, at a time when the former president of the bar Akere Muna has continued to call on the Cameroonian authorities so that the truth is established; going so far as to file several complaints both with the Cameroonian justice system and with international jurisdictions. Indeed, in the press release bearing the stamp of the national hydrocarbons company, we can clearly read that “the perpetrators of acts of corruption committed to the detriment of SNH have been identified” and will appear before the Court mentioned above. Among these identified officials, there is billionaire Alex Beard, former oil manager of Glencore who made his fortune when the company was listed on the London stock exchange in 2011; former senior Glencore executive Andrew Gibson, who for years was Alex Beard’s deputy and three other former employees prosecuted and accused of having actively participated in this corruption system.
If this marks a significant step forward, towards public opinion which is waiting for the names of the Cameroonian accomplices. The hydrocarbons boss assures that in addition to the information that will be given in due time on the progress of this case, “The SNH which filed a complaint before the Special Criminal Court on November 6, 2023, to identify the Cameroonian accomplices of these acts of corruption, is confident that the outcome of the procedure in London will allow the acceleration of investigations at the level of the TCS” we can read through the press release.
To date, instructions have been given by the Cameroonian Head of State, Paul Biya, to the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Laurent Esso to work in collaboration with the British justice system so that the names of the Cameroonians involved are known. 10 months after the referral of the TCS by the SNH, the lines now seem to be moving. Even if the former president of the bar Akere Muna asked on July 11, 2024 during a press lunch, that the procedure be accelerated, there was hardly any question of protecting individuals who caused the State of Cameroon to lose nearly 900 billion CFA francs due to acts of corruption.
Further, in a statement made public on September 12, 2023 in Yaoundé, four civil society organizations had even requested that responsibilities be established and possibly claim compensation from Glencore. In this regard, five civil society representatives, namely: the National Justice and Peace Service of the Catholic Church (SNJP), Council of Protestant Churches of Cameroon (CEPCA), Islamic Cultural Association of Cameroon (ACIC), Transparency International Cameroon (TI-Cameroon), Cameroonian Coalition Publish What You Pay (PWYPCameroon), had then stepped up to sound the alarm in this sordid affair.
If at the time of the events, the leaders of the two public entities that are SNH and Sonara had requested evidence. A trail of evidence will be given to them on May 25, 2022 when the Anglo-Swiss group will have entered into coordinated agreements with the authorities of the United Kingdom, the United States and Brazil, pleading guilty to corruption in Africa and South America and manipulation of oil markets.
Although the procedure initiated in London should provide more clarification to the top management of SNH, when the case was triggered in May 2022, the top management of SNH had indicated that such corrupt practices were non-existent within the structure if we refer to the press release published on May 30, 2022, the values of ethics and transparency as a granite base having been put forward. Faced with the worst reality, in July 2023, Adolphe Moudiki, ADG of SNH, contacted by correspondence, the President of the Republic, Paul Biya to demand the opening of an investigation after Glencore’s confessions, which the Head of State will validate.
Let us point out in passing that, before the American-British courts, Glencore admitted to acts of corruption estimated at 7 billion FCFA and paid in bribes over several years to Cameroonian officials, to guarantee it easy access to cargoes of Cameroonian crude oil. An amount considered very low if we are to believe the diagnostic report on governance and the fight against corruption in Cameroon produced at the request of the Cameroonian authorities and published by the International Monetary Fund.
The report states that the amount paid by Glencore as bribes to SNH and Sonara officials to obtain oil contracts was well above what has been reported so far. Indeed, “Glencore admitted to paying bribes of approximately 30 billion CFA francs to SNH and Sonara officials to obtain contracts in a case brought before the American courts,” the report revealed.
