Barrister Akere T. Muna, founder of Transparency International Cameroon, has publicly distanced himself from a reported collaboration between the anti corruption organization and National Hydrocarbons Corporation, known by its French acronym SNH, raising concerns over transparency, governance and accountability.
In a declaration issued in Yaounde on March 6, Muna said he had learned through media reports and an SNH publication that TI Cameroon and the state oil company reportedly held a strategic meeting on Feb. 26 as part of what was described as an ongoing collaboration.
Muna said he had no knowledge of any such partnership despite being the founder and a member of TI Cameroon, and questioned the framework governing the reported engagement, including its objectives, funding, governance arrangements and safeguards for independence.
“I have no knowledge whatsoever of any current collaboration nor of the framework under which it is taking place,” Muna said in the statement.
The lawyer and anti corruption advocate also recalled Cameroon’s early involvement in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, a global standard aimed at promoting transparency in the management of natural resources. Muna said he played a central role in recommending Cameroon’s admission to the initiative in 2005 while serving as vice president of Transparency International.
According to Muna, Cameroon announced its adherence to the EITI during a plenary session in London in March 2005 with the support of the then finance minister Polycarpe Abah Abah, who later faced legal troubles. The move secured a permanent seat for TI Cameroon on the national EITI committee, he said.
Muna expressed concern that SNH is publicly associating itself with Transparency International at a time when the company has faced serious allegations related to corruption and opaque governance.
He cited legal proceedings in the United Kingdom and the United States involving Swiss commodities trader Glencore, which admitted paying bribes in several countries to secure preferential treatment in oil trading. According to Muna, SNH and Cameroon’s national refinery SONARA were referenced in those proceedings.
Muna said that while Glencore paid major penalties abroad and overhauled its leadership, SNH has not conducted what he described as a credible internal investigation to identify officials who allegedly received the payments.
He also questioned reports that commodities trader Vitol received a significant discount in transactions involving SNH, saying the company has not publicly explained the legal or commercial basis for such preferential terms.
Beyond the corruption allegations, Muna described SNH’s governance as deeply opaque. He said the company’s leadership has not been publicly visible for an extended period while key decisions appear to be taken without clear oversight by the board or senior management.
He warned that the reported association with TI Cameroon could amount to what he described as “anti corruption washing,” allowing the state company to benefit from the credibility of an international transparency organization without implementing meaningful reforms.
Muna formally dissociated himself from the alleged collaboration and called on TI Cameroon to convene an extraordinary general assembly to clarify the nature of any engagement with SNH.
He urged the organization to publicly disclose the objectives of the partnership, its funding sources and the mechanisms in place to safeguard the group’s independence. He also called for measurable anti corruption commitments, including disclosure of beneficial ownership, publication of contracts and audited financial statements, as well as compliance with EITI transparency standards.
Muna further demanded strict rules to prevent conflicts of interest and full transparency about any memorandum of understanding, meetings, deliverables and progress reports related to the engagement.
The former vice chair of Transparency International also referenced an incident during the 2018 Cameroonian presidential election, when individuals falsely claimed to represent Transparency International as election observers. The episode, he said, raise the need to protect the organization’s credibility from misuse.
Muna urged civil society organizations, journalists and international partners to press for full transparency in the management of Cameroon’s oil and gas resources, warning that superficial measures could undermine public trust.
“Cameroon’s oil and gas resources belong to the Cameroonian people,” he said. “The institutions that manage them must be held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability.”
He added that the country does not need the appearance of transparency but genuine reforms and openness in the governance of its strategic resources.