
Cameroon’s President takes Swiss vacations as his country grapples with crises - jkuria
https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-does-the-lion-sleep-tonight-genevas-intercontinental-hotel-1541368940
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blumomo
Ask yourself a few questions:

\- why can a president be the president for 36 years in a country rich of
natural resources while the people never profit from it?

\- why does French army go straight to Mali (not far from Cameroon BTW) if
there's a terrorist threat?

\- why can't whole West Africa not print their own money (called FCFA) and why
is a single European country however permitted to print their money for
millions and billions in licenses?

\- why is DR of Congo the materially richest country on Earth but has most of
the conflicts and the poorest of the poorest population?

\- why was Gaddafi chased and killed by non-African?

\- why is China gifting huge buildings and communication systems to African
Union (check out yesterday's HN)?

\- or to put it more simply: who is profiting at the end? Is it really Paul
Biya?

~~~
grecy
I've spent the last two and a half years driving around Africa. 30 countires
so far, including over a year through West Africa.

You hit the nail on the head.

For anyone that doesn't get it - here's another great story. Gabon had just
had an election before I got there. The people were angry at the result, so
they rioted, burned cars, etc. Border closed. That's what the media told "us"
about.

When I was there I dug into the details. So the incumbent president was losing
by quite a bit during the counting, until his home state was counted.
Miraculously, get got 99.9% of the vote in his home state, when in no other
state did he get more than 60%. Also staggering, there were more votes cast
and counted in his home state than there are people.

The really sick part?

The UN and other international observers declared this a free and fair
election, and he remains president.

Ask yourself why the UN and other international Governments & observers would
sanction what any 5 year old can see is blatant election rigging.

Follow the money.

~~~
matthewmacleod
I don't doubt for a second that there are questionable forces at work, but it
was pretty widely reported that there were significant irregularities in that
election. The EU observers were quite indeed quite blunt about it. See
[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gabon-election-
election-i...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gabon-election-election-
idUSKCN11C112) for example.

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onetimemanytime
I'd bet he's worth more that ALL US Congress and Senate persons--combined.
Want a license for mobile phone network? It's cost you $50 Million in cash and
33% of the company. Buying arms? 30% goes to me. Want permission to open
factory...and so on. The entire economy is controlled by these types, pay up
or go to jail /close down shop.

His $600K salary serves just as the seed to launder. Buy land in x place and
surprise...2 years later land is valued 20x more as an airport will be there.
Now he has 20x the money invested to try the same. Rinse repeat. They are also
"lucky" with business etc

~~~
kayoone
Even then that salary is nothing to sneeze at for a head of state. I believe
Angela Merkel makes ~300k EUR in salary.

~~~
onetimemanytime
I agree, but the 3rd world countries would save a fortune if they paid their
top leader $1Million a year and $100K to ministers provided they don't steal.

Road costs $1.2 Billion? $200 MILLION to me, make the road a little narrower
and pour x cm less asphalt. Buying and selling electricity? 20% to the leader.
They are shameless and they know how to keep power, they let those downstream
wet their beak too.

But ultimately they know that they have to have clean cash. I make $600K and
spend just $50k a year so $550K is invested year after year. No matter what, I
can keep the $xx that derived from that. The stolen money is in secret
accounts, companies, in other people's names etc. Not always easy to get a
hold or keep the state away.

~~~
jlg23
Not sure whether I prefer your description or the more elaborate scheme of
"Road costs $1.2Billion? Have my brother-in-law build it and my cousin will
build you a house for almost free on land you can buy for really cheap from a
childhood friend of mine!"

It's not that the 1st world is less corrupt, it's just that some schemes are
more evolved.

~~~
barry-cotter
If you honestly think that the first world is no less corrupt you need to
travel more. Switzerland is very different from Turkey, and Turkey’s very
different from Eritrea.

~~~
jlg23
I will try to do that, in between my permanent traveling that I have been
doing for a few years now. Any hints who might provide a more correct picture
than the employees of UN, GIZ, Red Cross, Medicines sans Frontieres etc give
over and over again?

Try to find a normal priced taxi as a white person in Haiti: 5 minute drive =
$100. Or "You give me $150, I give you a receipt over $300." This scam was
brought to you by... _drumroll_ the UN! (It's a nice way to make one or two
additional salaries while on an "educational visit").

~~~
barry-cotter
Forgive me for assuming someone with such odd views could only have come by
them through lack of experience. Obviously highly biased experience works just
as well.

Opportunity makes thieves, as the Germans say. You’re using an organisation
with close to zero effective oversight, that is without exaggeration a law to
itself, and which for political reasons has many staff from really corrupt
countries as an example of corruption. The UN is not clean and no one who
knows anything about it thinks it’s clean.

For similar reasons aid organisations are also not paragons of probity. They
work in poor, corrupt countries and they have access to both budgets and
people who are willing and eager to get some of that money by helping them
defraud their employers.

What does this prove about corruption in more developed countries? Either very
little or that systems are important.

In Sweden your political career can end for putting hundreds of dollars of
private expenses on a ministerial card.

[https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-
xpm-1995-11-11-951111...](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-
xpm-1995-11-11-9511110090-story.html)

In Ireland you can die rich through corruption after having been prime
minister, never having been charged with anything.

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/dec/20/ireland](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/dec/20/ireland)

And petty corruption in either country is much less than anything aid workers
deal with regularly, basically absent. Living in China has made me far more
cynical and accepting of the fact that corruption happens all the time but I
know perfectly well that petty corruption is very limited in Ireland, my home
country.

Interference in civil service exams or school leaving exams is unremarkable in
China and would bring down a government in Ireland.

The difference in corruption between developed, developing and undeveloped
countries is so large that it’s not just a difference in quantity but in kind.

~~~
jlg23
> The difference in corruption between developed, developing and undeveloped
> countries is so large that it’s not just a difference in quantity but in
> kind.

Uhm, yes. The more money at stake, the higher the "quantity"; I don't argue
that because it is obvious and irrelevant. The ~"difference in kind" is what I
was pointing out.

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client4
Non Paywall link: [https://outline.com/http://www.wsj.com/articles/where-
does-t...](https://outline.com/http://www.wsj.com/articles/where-does-the-
lion-sleep-tonight-genevas-intercontinental-hotel-1541368940)

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mjfl
Is this really new to anyone? I feel like this is pretty typical African
dictator behavior.

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perseusprime11
Sounds like he is the source of crisis ;)

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monster_group
When Cameroonian president does it, it sounds awful and worth reporting,
however when US President spends $1-3 million for his Maro Lago visits almost
every weekend - nobody seems to care. A similar headline can be written
regarding the US president - "While his country grapples with gun violence,
opioid crisis, homelessness, US president spends $1-3 million on weekend
visits to his Maro Lago resort."

