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      Prosecuting the offence of misappropriation of public funds: An insight into Cameroon's Special Criminal Court

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          Abstract

          The fight against the misappropriation of public funds perpetrated by individuals, especially public servants, for private gain, enjoys different degrees of commitment by different countries. The enactment of laws and establishment of institutional mechanisms towards this end are partly a reflection of the attainment of such a mission and can also be the measure by which such a commitment can be assessed. Rated as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa by Transparency International, the global anti-corruption watchdog, the Republic of Cameroon recently enacted a law that created a Special Criminal Court. This comes as one of the most robust and significant legislative developments in the fight against the misappropriation of public funds. The mandate of the Special Criminal Court is to bring to justice persons who "cause loss of at least 50.000.000 CFA Francs (equivalent to about USD 100.000) relating to misappropriation of public funds and other related offences provided for in the Cameroon Penal Code and International Conventions ratified by Cameroon". This paper examines the offence of the misappropriation of public funds. It looks at aspects of the Special Criminal Court as provided by the Law that established it as well as supplementary legislation enacted to address specific issues related to the Special Criminal Court. The paper also examines the offence for which individuals are prosecuted in the Special Criminal Court. As a bold step in fighting and defeating the "invisible enemy amongst us" (that is, corruption), this paper argues that an institutional mechanism like the Special Criminal Court that has docked several top-notch politicians and former cabinet members for trial, is an example to emulate and confirms that corruption can be fought if and only if the political will to do so is present.

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          Most cited references3

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          Corruption and Development in Africa: Lessons from Country Case-Studies

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            The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon under Paul Biya

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              Corruption and Integrity Improvement Initiatives in Developing Countries

              SJ Kpundeh (1998)
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: ND
                Journal
                pelj
                PER: Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad
                PER
                Publication of North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) (Potchefstroom, North-West Province, South Africa )
                1727-3781
                2017
                : 20
                : 1
                : 1-31
                Affiliations
                [01] orgnameNorth-West University South Africa Avitus.Agbor@ 123456nwu.ac.za
                Article
                S1727-37812017000100025
                10.17159/1727-3781/2017/v20n0a770
                69ee4337-c78c-4bd8-a1d5-8239c3501eb7

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 3, Pages: 31
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                SciELO South Africa


                Corruption,misappropriation of public funds,Special Criminal Court,embezzlement,political corruption

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