After his release on July 29 2022, the former minister of water and energy, Basile Atangana Kouna, still seems to have an unfinished business with the justice of the state, after five years of detention for embezzlement of public funds. Biya’s minister who is well known for his taste for luxury, can’t maintain any silence as his property and bank accounts are still sealed. This is the reason why his lawyers seized the special criminal court in Yaoundé today,20th April 2023, in order to have details on certain aspects of the decision which had ordered his release.
“When judges ordered the lifting of the pre-trial on the basis of which he was imprisoned, they also authorized the partial lifting of the seal on his bank accounts so that he could reimburse the corpus-delicti–CFAF 1.2 billion. They didn’t specify what should happen to the rest of his possessions, and it is on this point that his defense lawyers hope to obtain clarifications” says one of his defense lawyers Samba Augustine
“They have vehemently refused to hear us. The special criminal court has been rejecting our request since 17th of March 2023” says one of his defense lawyers, Kouoh Stephane
After reimbursing 1.2 billion CFA to the state coffers, he still has an impressive fortune. We are talking about 32 luxury cars (which have been seized from his home, his car rental agency and from some of his biological relatives). 118 million CFA distributed over six bank accounts in his name and 127 million distributed in four bank accounts registered in the name of his daughter.
