Cameroun’s secondary education minister Louis Bapes Bapes was arrested and
remanded in custody on suspected embezzlement of public funds, a court official
and state radio in the central African nation said on Monday.
Bapes Bapes is the first sitting minister to be arrested under President Paul
Biya, 81, one of Africa’s longest serving heads of state. Biya, who came to
power in 1982, launched “Operation Sparrow Hawk” in 2006 to combat
corruption.
The drive has seen several of his former aides, ministers and top government
officials brought to court. Critics say the campaign has been used to target
opponents.
Bapes Bapes, who as education minister managed one of the largest ministerial
budgets in the country, was taken to the Special Criminal Tribunal in the
capital on Monday.
“The judge notified him of his immediate remanding in custody at the Yaounde
central prison for suspected embezzlement of public funds,” a court official
told Reuters.
Cameroon state radio CRTV, quoting a statement from the court, reported the
arrest but did not indicate how much the minister was accused of embezzling.
Biya created the Special Criminal Tribunal in 2012 to try officials suspected
of embezzling sums equal or above 50 million CFA francs
($105,100).
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