GCE Fraud Allegations

Cameroon Journal, September 16, Yaounde -Besides growing denunciations of Humphrey Monono for withholding to this day, payment to teachers who corrected the GCE examination in July because they accepted a banquet offered by SDF chairman, John Fru Ndi, the GCE board chair is at the centre of another incident – one that may actually take his head. This one is related to examination fraud and mal practice.

The Cameroon Journal was informed by a source that opted for anonymity how Humphrey got entangled in this case. Narrating the story, our source said, one Florence Forchu was appointed chief invigilator of the 2013 /2014 GCE examination in a Yaoundé centre. Forchu, who is current Vice Principal of Government Bilingual High School Etoug-Egbe, Yaoundé, was superintendent of the GCE Centre where students of renowned La Gaite College sat for the examination.

During the exam exercise, some students of the college got to the centre about 1hour, 30 minutes late for Mathematics Paper III. In her capacity as Centre Superintendent, our source said, Forchu called the liaison officer for the GCE Board and spoke with an official whose name we got only as Lekundze, to inquire whether or not the students should be allowed to join the rest who were already taking the exam for over one hour, given that the regulations stipulate that students shall not be let into the examination hall, 30 minutes after start time for any subject.

La Gaite College, owned and run by the family of former Communication Minister, Augustine Kontchou Komeni, is the lone school in Central Africa that offers international baccalaureate in English. School fee for an academic year is about 2million FCFA. It is among the most expensive schools in Cameroon, with nursery, primary and secondary schools integrated. It is compared only to few other schools including the American school where school fee is about 800.000FCFA for an academic year.

According to our source, Forchu got the consent of Lekunze to send the students away. When Humphrey Monono the Registrar, learned about the incident, he allegedly grilled Forchu who justified her action on the grounds that her direct boss, the GCE liaison officer – Lekunze, was aware of the situation. Humphrey allegedly told the lady that she wasn’t a politician, to which she retorted that politics had nothing to do with the decision she took.

While participating in the marking of the GCE in Bamenda later on, Forchu was suspended by Humphrey. But surprisingly, when the final results came out, the students who did not at all sit for Mathematics, scored passed grades.

How did it come about? Going by our source, Konchou Komeni, Board Chairman of the University of Douala who is also the proprietor of College la Gaite called Monono and negotiated with him to give the students a pass in Mathematics.

“This is a scandal of the first order. You should call her and get the real facts before publishing the story. I will like to know the outcome of the interview with her. Thanks,” our source intimated.

When we got Florence Forchu on phone, she was belligerent that the issue was being brought up. “I am simply a victim in what happened. I don’t want to talk about the issue. It is in the past and I have put it behind me.” She stated angrily; adding that “I am a civil servant and an administrator; I am not giving information about this matter.”

Forchu stated further to the Cameroon Journal that she does not have power to take certain decisions on her own. Quizzed on whether she actually kept the students out of the examination hall and they got passed marks, she said, “those types of instructions only come from above. You journalist have a way of treating information to suite what you want to say. I don’t take decisions on behalf of the GCE board. I am not talking about this issue again, let’s call it a day. Thank you!”

Enter Sir Humphrey Monono

Responding to the allegations of fraud against him, Humphrey Monono, told the Cameroon Journal in an interview, September 14, that it was the students’ fault that they came late to the centre. He revealed that

the 8 students involved were not in possession of their personal time tables. “Teachers are not supposed to keep students’ individual time tables. Maybe the teachers were keeping them to make money out of them. I don’t know, but I learned that the individuals have been sanctioned by the administration of La Gaite.”

Asked why he clampdown on Forchu, Monono said that though she implemented the regulations of the board, there was also another option which she could have exploited.

“Given the gravity of the situation and that the students did not have their time table, they could have been quarantined.” He said they could have been kept away from the other students so that they could write the exams without knowing the questions from those who had already written.

The Monono also stated that he had nothing to do with the fact that students who did not write an examination came out with passed grades. “Getting a pass mark in an exam is not only about sitting for the examination. An examiner can look at a student and give him a mark” Monono stated. He also said that the Ministry of Secondary Education intervened in the matter and that the ministry equally forwarded to him a complaint letter which was written by the parents of the students from the school.

He, however, stated that the students were responsible for their lateness to a degree because they seemed to have kept themselves in their small group when writing mathematics paper I, and avoided mingling with other students who could have informed them about the time the next subject was to be written.

As if suggesting that he was under pressure from secondary education ministry, Monono said the decision was not his to make. “If these students did not sit for the exam and yet, passed, it was not by my influence. There are processes involved in the examination process which I cannot be explaining to you over the phone. But know that the decision was made by a whole council.” He said.

Meanwhile, a Vice Principal of a government secondary school in the NW Region confirmed to the Journal yesterday that they are yet to be paid their bonuses for marking the GCE this year. “Fru Ndi offered us an encouragement banquet; we went there and took part. It was great, with a music band performing live. We went there in groups. I was part of the first group of 1500 markers” the Vice Principal said.

The source said they were taken aback when the chief examiners told us that the registrar was not happy about the banquet and will not pay them for the job they did. The VP told CJ that they are waiting for the next examinations to come up, “that is when we will have our pound of flesh. We are like barbers, we are always needed” the source said.

According to the Vice Principal, it is outrageous that an administrator will bring in politics into something that has nothing to do with politicking. “Have sitting ministers who are big wigs of the CPDM not visited Fru Ndi and wined and dined with him? Are they not still in government? By the way we are not politicians.”