Cameroon's former minister of secondary education to face corruption charges

The trial of the former Minister of Secondary Education (MINESEC) Louis Bapes Bapes has been scheduled to begin in mid-January 2016. The former Minister of Secondary Education was charged for diversion of the sum of 550 million CFA francs. Other charges related to the Bapes Bapes affair included bonuses and allowances unduly paid to officials of the Ministry of Secondary Education in the context of the organization of examinations and sporting competitions under the 2005-2009 financial year period audited by a mission from the Higher State Control (CONSUPE). Louis Bapes Bapes will be heard by the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé.

Unlike three of his co-defendants jailed for four years at the central prison in Kondengui, former Minister Bapes was detained and later on released following standing instructions from the Head of State. The first hearings slated for the 5th and 6th of January 2016 will be devoted to Hon. Rouly Mbila, former director of examinations and competitions at MINESEC. On the 15th of January 2016, Louis Bapes Bapes will stand before the judges of the Special Criminal Court. He was recently admitted at the Central Hospital in Yaounde and some reports have suggested that his condition has worsened.