(Business in Cameroon) – In a recent Facebook post, Akéré Muna, a prominent African lawyer and former presidential candidate in Cameroon, congratulated Finance Minister Louis-Paul Motaze for his handling of the Glencore corruption case. “The Finance Minister of Cameroon deserves praise for his strict approach and thorough investigation into Glencore for tax and customs fraud,” Muna stated.
This praise comes amid ongoing criticism of the national oil and gas company (SNH) regarding the case. The criticism follows a decision by the Westminster Court in Britain, which, after hearing the case, referred it to a more appropriate jurisdiction for trial.
Muna’s post highlights several issues with the SNH’s statements about the case, particularly the lack of information about local accomplices involved in the corruption. The SNH claims it asked Glencore for the names of any Cameroonian accomplices, but was met with a confidentiality clause.
The SNH also mentioned that it had filed a complaint with the Special Criminal Court, which handles cases of embezzlement exceeding CFA50 million. However, details about who this complaint targets remain unclear. In the next hearing, David Perez is expected to address issues related to Glencore’s activities in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.
In June 2024, Cameroonian President Paul Biya reopened the Glencore case by authorizing a procedure to involve the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Glencore admitted to using $21 million between 2006 and 2014 through one of its subsidiaries to partially pay Cameroonian officials for oil transactions with public or semi-public entities like the SNH and Sonara. The company claims to have made $67 million in illicit gains from these transactions.
This legal investigation seems to have impacted Glencore’s operations in Cameroon. According to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Glencore purchased 8.1 million barrels of oil in Cameroon between March 2017 and June 2019. However, in 2021, the year the case broke, the company bought only 137,808 barrels. Future EITI reports are expected to provide more details.
