CRTV former GM Amadou Vamoulke handed 12-year jail term
The verdict was passed on December 20 2022 at the special criminal court during an audience that lasted over 16hrs. Amadou Vamoulke, former General Manager of the Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) was slammed a 12-year jail term with a 47 million FCFA fine to pay to the state. A verdict some have termed shameful.
“This is a shame. Vamoulke has already spent half of this court verdict in jail. Knowing he will be compensated if not proven guilty’ they rather scheme a mascaraed,” Romain Njike, a Cameroonian, opinionates.
To others, courts should focus on retrieving the money and not keeping persons accused of embezzlement in jail.
The 72-year-old man who served as GM for Cameroon’s state broadcaster from 2005 to 2016 is accused of syphoning public funds worth over F CFA 22 million. The accused has always pleaded not guilty, insisting the corporation owes him:
“I requested my annual leave in 2006, the human resource manager told me I have transport bonus to go to any place of my choice and also mission fee. I accepted transport bonus but not mission fee…CRTV is owing me,” Amadou Vamoulke explained.
On the accusation of embezzlement of funds with one time finance and economy minister Polycarp Abah Abah, Vamoulke said “the workers came from stores account department of the ministry of finance and requested to be paid pending reimbursement”.
After his arrest on 29 July 2016 through operation sparrow hawk, Vamoulke has been the subject of two distinct proceedings on charges of misusing public funds as GM of the CRTV– charges for which absolutely no evidence and no witness has ever been produced by the prosecution. Reporters without Borders, civil society actors and his lawyers have deplored the poor health care he received while in pre-trial detention over the past 6 years.
Amadou Vamoulke has to serve 6 more years in jail before being freed after spending six years in pre-detention. Polycarp Abah Abah co-accused got a 17 year jail term, incarcerated since 2015.
Vamoulke is not the corporation’s first GM to be imprisoned in such a manner. Gervais Mendo Ze who passed away on April 9 2021 had been incarcerated for 7 years and had 13 more years to serve his term. He had managed the CRTV for 16 years after which he had been accused of embezzlement and got sick in prison prior to his demise.
