Government stops all legal actions against Atangana Kouna
The government of Cameroon has decided to put an end to all legal proceedings in the case opposing the state to the former minister of water and energy, Basile Atangana Kouna.
The orders are contained in a letter signed by the state minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh this July 25th 2022 and addressed to the minister of justice, keeper of the seals Laurent Esso. The reason stated in this official correspondence warranting Atangana Kouna’s release is the fact that he has restituted the complete amount he was accused of embezzling.
This letter from the minister of state, secretary general, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is the second: the first having been written in December 2020. In it he has asked Laurent Esso to inform the president of the special criminal court, the state attorney and the minister of finance that President Paul Biya had granted his accord to an end to legal proceedings. He had also asked that practical steps be taken for the restitution of the embezzled funds to the treasury.
Basile Atangana Kouna, former minister of water and energy and also former director general of the national water corporation, CAMWATER, was arrested in March 2018 in Nigeria while he attempted to flee the country. He was accused of embezzlement of public funds, illegal emmigration and violation of the legal code as far as public contracts were concerned. Atangana Kouna was accused of creating a shell company (ASPAC CEMAC Sarl) which he used to defraud the state of F CFA 40 billion while he was at the helm of CAMWATER. In court, the former minister and his co-accused declared they were ready to reimburse about F CFA 1.2 billion.
