Paul Biya orders the release of Basile Atangana Kouna from Kondengui Prison
Paul Biya orders the release of Basile Atangana Kouna from Kondengui Prison
The editorial staff of scop4.com has just learned from a letter from the SGPR Ferdinan Ngoh Ngoh that the Head of State has ordered the release of former Minister Atangana Kouna, prosecuted for several years for “embezzlement of public funds”.
After a first attempt which failed, the SGPR returned to the charge. In a letter consulted by the editorial staff of scop4.com, he instructed the Minister of Justice on the “instructions” of the Head of State requesting “the cessation of the proceedings against Basil Atangana Kouna”.
In the letter, Ferdinand Ngohn Ngoh reminds the minister that Basil Atangana Kouna has returned “the entire corpus delicti”. In other words, it is no longer necessary to keep the former water minister in prison.
The release of Basile Atangana Kouana was first announced in 2020, two years ago. This surprising reversal of the Cameroonian executive, which had made the prey of Operation Sparrowhawk examples of its rigor in the fight against corruption, had been revealed by a confidential note which leaked at the end of January on social networks. D
In this document dated December 2, 2020, the Secretary General to the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, asks the Minister of Justice, Laurent Esso, “to inform the President of the Special Criminal Court (TCS), the prosecutor of the Republic and the Minister of Finance that the President of the Republic has given his agreement to a halt to the proceedings, as well as to the implementation of the practical arrangements for the repayment to the Public Treasury of the embezzled funds confined in the bank accounts of the person concerned…”
Arrested in Nigeria in March 2018, Basile Atangana Kouna had been brought back to Cameroon in the process to be placed in detention. Accused of “embezzlement” and “violation of the provisions of the Public Procurement Code”.
