On May 27, 2021, Minister of Basic Education (MINEDUB) Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa relieved the principals of some primary schools in the Central, Littoral, and Adamaoua of their duties. Six of them, including a MINEDUB official, were thus being sanctioned for proven corruption.

They are the principal of EbolZock public school (Mefou and Afamba), the principal of the Group 1 A public school in Ntui (Mbam and Kim), the principal of the Group 1 public school in Mbangassina (Mbam and Kim), the principal of the Group 2 public school in Ntui (Mbam and Kim), the principal of the public school group 2 in Mbangassina (Mbam and Kim), the principal of the Government Bilingual Primary School in Pouma-Centre (Sanaga-Maritime), as well as the head of the office of after-school and extracurricular activities at the district inspectorate of basic education in Mbangassina (Mbam and Kim).

There is also the principal of Baladji 2 public training school in Ngaoundéré who was accused of sexually harassing his female colleagues. He was thus sanctioned after "appropriate investigations," according to the MINEDUB.

This is not the first time the MINEDUB is imposing sanctions on primary school principals this year. In January, six school principals in the Centre and Far North regions were suspended for corruption.

Let’s note that the Ministry of Basic Education is among the 12 most corrupted administrations in Cameroon, according to the 2019 report published by the national anti-corruption commission CONAC. So at the start of every school year, the CONAC organizes awareness campaigns to sensitize against corruption in schools. The aim is to sensitize school officials against corruption during School enrollment processes at times when scores of parents complain that some school officials ask for money before allowing registrations or even before recruiting staff.

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