President Biya fires Commander of the Army airbase 101 in Yaounde

President Paul Biya has dismissed the commander of the army airbase in Yaoundé involved in the management of donations made to Cameroon defense forces and security services by citizens and private investors. By Decree No. 2015/221, Paul Biya fired Colonel Claude Martin Owona who had spent only two months on the post.  Biya replaced the commander of the Air Base 101 of Yaoundé with another of his kinsman, Colonel Mvondo Menyengue Alfred, previously head of maintenance department of the defense forces.

Cameroon Concord received evidence that President Biya was reliably informed of the alleged involvement of the senior officer in the scandal of misappropriation of donations offered to the defense and security forces engaged in the war against the Nigerian Islamic sect Boko Haram. A military source who spoke to Cameroon Concord at the time of writing this report and sued for anonymity observed that “donations -Rice, pasta, flour, fish, beef, sardines, plantains, bananas, mineral water, toilet paper, maize, beans, yams, fruit juice, vegetable oil had been hidden at the air base 101 in Yaoundé”.

Luc Magloire Atangana, Minister of Commerce, who had received donations, had insisted they be given directly to beneficiaries. Cameroon Concord understands donations had been diverted to homes and in some supermarkets in the capital by highly placed government and army officials. The Presidency has ordered an investigation, and it is expected that those involved in this horrendous crime will have to face the military court.