An international corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI) Cameroon, has published a report on the “Barometer of Corruption in Cameroon” based on the opinion of citizens through a survey of 1, 182 Cameroonians conducted between January and February 2015.

The report published in Yaounde on December 9, 2015, states that corruption has risen in the last 12 months.

According to the report presented by TI-Cameroon Vice President, Barrister Njoh Manga, 44 per cent of individuals sampled affirmed that corruption has increased within the past one year and that 57 percent of survey participants indicated that the government is not effective in the fight against corruption.

The 2015 corruption barometer report indexed the taxation and the police as the most corrupt sectors in the country. 48 per cent of public service users for the past year according to the TI report testified that they bribed in return for services rendered with the police and the judiciary being more susceptible to bribe.

TI also notes that denunciation mechanisms are risky and inefficient with one out of three persons indicating in the survey that whistle blowers are exposed to negative consequences.

The fight against corruption according to Barrister Njoh Manga should be inclusive with all and sundry implicated. Corruption if not eradicated slows down development and economic growth reason why TI-Cameroon proposed far-reaching recommendations such as the adoption of an anti-corruption law, independence of anti-corruption organs and the judiciary as well as protection of whistle blowers amongst others.

While citizens believe that corruption is the third preoccupation after unemployment and health, 56 per cent of Cameroonians according to the TI report, are ready at individual levels to fight the scourge.