A Critical Review of Law No. 3-2006 on Assets and Property Declaration in Cameroon

Submitted: 04 August 2022
Accepted: 28 September 2022.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70139/rolac.2023.1.1

Jean-Claude N. Ashukem
Researcher, Global Environmental Law Centre, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
jcnashukem@gmail.com; jashukem@uwc.ac.za

ABSTRACT
The adoption in 2006 of a law relating to the declaration of assets and property in Cameroon indicates and represents a new hope for the practical implementation of article 66 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon. This article uses the doctrinal research methodology approach to critically assess Cameroon’s Law No.3-2006 as an anti-corruption mechanism. Based on this assessment, I essentially argue and clarify that despite the noble intention of welcoming its adoption, there are inherent weaknesses including a continuous challenge to implementing or operationalising the law, the non-existent of the Assets and Property Declaration Commission. Furthermore, assets and property disclosure is still contemplated as a secret and the fact that the envisaged sanctions for non-compliance with assets and property declaration requirements do not constitute a sufficient deterrent to corruption. I conclude by proffering suggestions for improving the legal framework as a credible anti-corruption strategy.

Keywords
Assets declaration; anti-corruption; Constitution of Cameroon; transparency and accountability; Assets and Property Declaration Commission

^© 2024 Ashukem, licensee LU Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cite this article as: Ashukem J.-C. N. A Critical Review of Law No. 3-2006 on Assets and Property Declaration in Cameroon, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Journal, 2023:1.1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.70139/rolac.2023.1.1

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