Alleged misappropriation: Konye mayor, treasurer, stores accountant arrested!.

The Guardian Post gathered that Mayor Musima was transferred on Thursday, April 9, 2026, from Buea to Yaounde. The same, we are told, holds sway for the Municipal Treasurer of the Council, Muabe Richard Itoe, and the Stores Accountant of the Council, Sakwe James Ngimani.

According to authoritative sources, the mayor and his collaborators had been summoned to the South West Gendarmerie Legion on Thursday, April 9. They are said to have left Kumba for Buea, to answer to allegations against them. 

At the close of Thursday, reports hold that the Attorney General of the South West Region referred their files to the Special Criminal Court, SCC, in Yaounde.

The trio is said to have started responding to accusations against them at the Special Criminal Court yesterday. 

Reports hold that the municipal authority and his two collaborators are being fingered for an estimated 19 months of unpaid salaries. 

They are said to have been earlier summoned to the Legion in Buea on Thursday, March 5, 2025. Then, Mayor Musima is said to have written, citing the holding of a session to examine the 2025 Administrative Accounts of the council and the holding of the Mbonge Cultural and Development Association, MECDO, cultural festival to seek a postponement of the invitation.

Judicial authorities are said to be acting, based on a complaint from four persons, among them two former workers, Nanje Mbuki and Betote Edward. The other two complainants are said to be Councillors Ndedi Bau Akama and Ndima Joseph Oyo.

The complainants are said to be among other things having a different view of how allocations under the Additional Council Tax for 2023, 2024 and 2025, were managed by the mayor.

The arrests have sent shockwaves across the entire South West Region and Meme Division in particular. 

Some sources say they are waiting to hear the details of the matter from the court, given that most councils have been battling to be regular with paying workers’ salaries.

Old accusations, new quest for truth

The arrests are a new twist in old accusations that have surfaced, especially against Mayor Musima in the last two years. 

The Guardian Post gathered that the mayor had between 2024 and 2025, been summoned to the South West Gendarmerie Legion.

During one of such summons, it is said, Musima was granted bail sometimes in September 2025. 

Within that same period, there are reports that his two collaborators who were picked up alongside him last Thursday, had also been summoned to the Legion sometimes in September 2025.

In August 2024, the Konye Council was in the news over reports of at least 15 months of unpaid salaries. The Meme administration is also said to have held several meetings on the issue.

When the cry over unpaid salaries first surfaced in 2024, Mayor Musima evoked challenges not unconnected to the prolonged crisis in the North West and South West Regions.

He had suspected political misinterpretation of what he claimed were challenges in raising internal revenue and prolonged delay in the payment of the Additional Council Tax. 

In the wake of the rumours in August 2024, the mayor explained what he said is the difference between salary arrears and months of consecutive salary being owed.

Musima had argued that with a near inexistent local revenue base, the Council is left to handle the salary headache, whenever the Additional Council Tax allocation is paid to the municipality. 

As at that time, he had said the year 2024, was ending without the Council receiving any allocation, remarking that, “that is our plight, which some people want to attribute to administrative management…”.

The mayor had also stated that even when such allocations are paid, it can’t handle up to three months of workers’ salaries, including other Council needs.

Politics or fight against mismanagement?

With all eyes turned to the Special Criminal Court, there are already several interpretations of what is actually happening.

While some have qualified it as the State’s quest to unravel the truth relating to the repeated accusations against the Konye Council leadership, others are alleging that it could be the start of a long political battle.

With twin polls expected early 2027, the developments in Konye are already being viewed by Musima’s supporters as a new script to stop him from seeking a third mandate. 

Musima has been heading the Konye municipality since 2013, it should be said. He was re-elected following the February 9, 2020, legislative election, to stay on as mayor.

It is reported that Mbuki and Betote had been fired from the Council sometime in 2025. Meanwhile Ndima and Akama have for long been mentioned among those with interest in the Konye Council top job in past elections. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3759 of Monday April 13, 2026