Corruption Corruption

Corrpution is everywhere in Cameroon, from the gendarmes taking 500 cfa from every bush taxi and truck driver to financing Chantal Biya's wardrobe and hair-care.  It's such a buzzword, catch-all for problems here and in Africa in general, but it's part of a larger problem that affects eduction women's rights, and the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.  Here are a couple examples of different kinds of corruption that I've seen or heard about:

 

Say 'No' to Sponsors

Let's the tuition for one year at the Lagdo high school in Lagdo is 15,000 CFA ($30), a lot of money for nearly all people here.  There is a 15 year-old girl that has the money, but when she goes to pay, the principal demands an extra 30 mil for his own pocket.  What can the girl do?  She doesn't have many options: How does a young girl in a place with no jobs make money?  This is when prostitution, the prevalence of "sugar daddies" ( sponseur en francais), and unsafe sex practices come in.  This situation also reinforces the oppression women face here; they're already discouraged from leaving the home and, especially among Muslim families, are forced to quit school and get married to older men (because they have the money to pay the girl's family) and immediately start having children.  The high school girl will have to sell herself or quit school, effective ending her scholastic career if her family can't or won't pay the bribe.  If the girl is forced into prostitution or sugar daddy route, the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections will rise given that condoms won't be used.  This is how corruption can affect someone's health and education.

 

Election Fever

Munincipal elections are July 22.  The Lagdo mayor, who I think, all things considered, is a decent guy, is up for reelection and has pretty strong support (... I think, on ne sait jamais).  Early yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, I woke up from a well-need and most likely undeserved nap.  I heard some chanting and the noise of a truck plodding along the road, so I look out the door and see the largest open-air truck I've ever seen pass by filled with atleast 50 people singing in the back.  My thought was, Maybe it's a soccer team going somewhere.

 

A little later in the day, I was waiting outside the lycee for a "summer" Club Sante meeting, one in a series of five I've been trying to organize knowing that it's an uphill battle getting high schoolers to voluntarily come to a malaria lecture during their vacation.  One kid showed up (we cancelled the meeting), late, and he happened to be the son of the former adjoint sous-prefet. (Cameroon is divided up into provinces with a governor for each, appointed by Son Excellence Paul Biya.  Each province is divided up into departments with a Prefet.  Each department is divided up into arrondissements with a Sous-Perfet.  Each arrondissement is divided into *head blows up*) We talked about the difficulties getting anyone to show up because they're probably out in the fields, and I can't just instant message them on AIM as a reminder, but he also said the lack of attendance this week was because of election activities that the mayor was doing at the same time.  Those activities, you ask?  Oh, just handing out money to possible voters, that's all.

 

The audacity of it is what's most striking, and I really shouldn't have been surprised.  The audacity of any politician and elite anywhere is almost overwhelming, whether it's the mayor handing out cash, Paul Biya being worth billions, or GWB giving out so many contracts to Halliburton, he's even giving them A-Rod when he hits the free agent market this winter.