About 30 members of the Citizen Association
December 11th, 2008
for Collective Advocacy (ACDIC) were arrested here late Wednesday morning as they demonstrated to denounce embezzlement, corruption and the government’s "poor" response to prevent the looming corn crisis.
Cameroonian police thwart demonstrations against embezzlement
Around 10 pm (local time), some 500 people converged on the association’s headquarters located at the Elig-Essono neighbourhood to register their disapproval against alleged rampant malpractices.
The demonstrators waved signs, calling for legal action against those they called the "predators of Cameroonian agriculture".
A few minutes later, heavily armed police officers clamped down and dispersed the protestors with clubs and belts, while some were arrested and taken to the barracks of the Riot Unit (GMI), an elite police division.
Meanwhile, police bludgeoned and took ACDIC chairman Bernard Njonga to the Central Station.
The skirmish left many people injured.
In a study published a few days ago, ACDIC revealed that more than 1.2 billion FCFA subsidies to the corn sector were embezzled.
The study also charged that 60 the India-made tractors intended for the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry were "diverted by ministers and relations".
"The tractors are currently parked in the rural villas of these ministers, some of whom are now in prison for embezzlement," Njonga quoted the study as saying.
source.apa