Chantier Naval: The Truth Behind the Downfall of Zacchaeus Forjindam

Mr. Zacchaeus Forjindam and the Chantier Naval company he built from scratch. (Courtesy of CNIC)

By Louis Egbe Mbua

Mr. Zacchaeus Forjindam, the man who single-handedly built the Chantier Naval et Industriel du Cameroun (CNIC) from a scrap yard for disused marine equipment and vessels into an internationally reputed and fledgling potential industrial multi-national giant was unceremoniously dismissed from his position as General Manager of the State-owned company amidst confusion, accusations, counter-accusations of embezzlement, mishandled and unprofessional auditing procedures by his enemies; and allegedly bitter rivalry within the company insiders and outsiders. To this day, it is not quite clear as to the present veracity of opinions as it appears views are divided between his supporters: who see him as a Cameroonian champion of nation building and a Southern Cameroonian who has again taught French-speaking Cameroonian elite the art of nation-building, astute management and advanced technical and visionary thought.

On the other side of the argument are his enemies: those who saw his unnecessary and unwarranted stab at politics to deliver the much hated CPDM ruling party a victory in his home town of Santa, Southern Cameroons; and his disappointing support for Monsieur Biya, Le President de La Republique, for unconstitutionally staging a constitutional take over by fraudulently voting himself into power for life in the rubber stamp parliament. Others have claimed that his downfall was plotted by tribal demagogues of the Beti strain who disliked and envied Forjindam's successes they had never matched or cannot rival; and that they wanted him removed so that they may take over the company for themselves, their tribesmen and their families.

Whoever is right or wrong is not the question at this instant: the fact of the matter being that Forjindam was arrested soon after his dismissal by the Board of Directors of the company, 7 May 2008. He is presently locked up in La Prison Centrale de Douala au quartier New-Bell. The downfall of Forjindam is not only a great national tragedy for a man with such a supreme talent in management and engineering; but also a tremendous blow to Anglophone Cameroon's participation in Cameroon's developmental plans. Consequently, one has to meticulously examine the truth behind his alleged embezzlement of company's funds.

According to Cameroon French language daily, Quotidienmutations, the fall of the GM began when he secured almost £200 million from an international consortium of financial houses, including the African Development Bank, to expand CNIC into Victoria, Southern Cameroons, by building a world class Shipyard and a deep seaport in that city, http://www.cnicyard.com/. That Forjindam and his closest associates within the company "weaved a vast "network"of extortion of funds from the CNIC"; and that this was confirmed by Forjindam's brief hearing in front of the chief prosecutor.

The total amount "stolen" by Forjindam has not been fully brought to light nor his actual crime. Again, if we refer to Quotidienmutations, 09 May 2008, it is alleged that cheque payments of almost £600,000 were noted to have been made without proper documents to back the funds. The paper did not say who banked these cheques; and on whose account were the cheques deposited; and also where exactly the money came from. Secondly, there were also cheques deposited to the bank to the tune of almost £180, 000, but which were not recorded in the bank's accounts. Again, whose account were these cheques deposited and who, exactly, deposited these cheques is not clear. Thirdly, another situation of withdrawal of almost £220, 000 from the bank "without sufficient verifiable or justifiable documents". In addition, it was discovered that there were fictitious names on the CNIC's payroll -- workers who didn't exist. If this is found to be true, then this, clearly, is corruption. The total amount in question, therefore, amounts to about £1,000, 000 (one million GBP). Which begs the question as to who owned this money; and from whose account was the theatrical financial drama acted. Was it from the CNIC account or was it from Forjindam's? And what, exactly, do they mean by "insufficient justifiable documents" as related to the deposit or withdrawal of money? These are the crucial questions that must be answered.

Forjindam's fall is a classic example of the kind of unaccountable and undemocratic politics that prevails in Africa. Born in 1949, Forjindam attended CPC Bali, from where he won an American scholarship to the famed Cameroon College of Arts, Science and Technology, Bambili. Having obtained his degree in Engineering from Fourah Bay University College in Sierra Leone, he worked in a maritime company in France before returning to Cameroon to work for the Cameroon Shipyard; at that time an unknown and penniless company. Installed in 1988 as GM of CNIC, he took the company to profitability and unprecedented expansion; delivering a profit of £8 million for a turnover of £40 million of business in 2007; took the workforce from 32 employees to 2500 people who earn their living at the Cameroon Shipyard and Engineering Company (CINC).

It must be noted that this achievement appears to be one of the first in Cameroon; and possibly Africa; and that many of Cameroon's state owned companies have either been looted of funds by corrupt party apparatchik managers or are on the verge of being bankrupted by the same incompetent party men. It is also interesting to note that the French-Speaking elite have always cast an envious eye on prosperous Southern Cameroons built institutions. One only hopes that his is not a repeat of a vicious cycle of Anglophone Cameroon hard work that may also end up in smoke as a result of the appointment of incompetent people to manage an organisation on the basis of "regional balance". When the Francophone elite took over the Anglophone-built Produce Marketing Board (PMO), one of the richest companies in the country at the time, it was not long before they looted and destroyed the company. The same goes to Cameroon Bank that was allegedly bankrupted by thieves pretending to be managers.

Forjidam's fall may also be of his own making. There was absolutely no reason for him to jump into politics in full with people who are corrupt, mad and bad. If at all, it turned out he committed a crime, it would be due to his own folly. There are reports that CPDM bosses of state companies raid state company accounts to sponsor elections which are heavily rigged on the promise of positions after the win of Paul Biya's party; CPDM. Forjindam, with such a huge talent, did not have to join the ranks of the mediocre and talentless technocrats to do the same. For his folly, his enemies found a web to weave around his mien; and then swallow him alive. On the other hand, if it is found that the auditing procedure was flawed and that Forjindam did no wrong, then he will be entitled to an unheard of financial compensation and a possible re-reinstatement to his old position or to that of another company of similar class. It is interesting to note that Forjindam returned profits and clean financial and managerial records for almost twenty years. For almost 2 decades, there is no evidence of embezzlement. Why then would he steal £1 million in the last 2 years? Mystery upon mystery.