On August 23, the Administrative Court in Yaoundé suspended a decision from the State Audit Office (Consupe) that had imposed a CFA611.6 million fine on Alain Noël Olivier Mekulu Mvondo Akame, the Director General of the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS), for 19 management errors. This ruling comes over two months after Mekulu Mvondo challenged the sanction from the Budgetary and Financial Discipline Council (CDBF) of Consupe.

The court found Mekulu Mvondo’s arguments valid and granted the suspension he requested. The court clarified that “public finances and the policies they support are subject to external review by the Court of Accounts.” Essentially, the Consupe no longer has the authority to judge the transparency and governance of public finances. According to the Administrative Court, this responsibility falls to the Court of Accounts of the Supreme Court, as outlined in the laws of July 11, 2018, concerning transparency and good governance in public financial management in Cameroon.

The Court of Accounts oversees the legality and budgetary compliance of all state expenditure and revenue operations, judges the financial managers and public accountants, and penalizes management errors by public officials.

As a reminder, the Consupe’s sanction followed an audit of CNPS accounts from 2008 to 2016 conducted by a special state control and verification mission. After the audit report was issued on December 17, 2019, Mekulu Mvondo Akame was brought before the CDBF in August 2020. After numerous sessions to review the case, the CDBF issued the decision that led to the Consupe’s sanction on June 7, 2024.

Source: Business in Cameroon