When writing, I can look out over beautiful lake Geneva and see in the distance the flight path to the international airport. With the United Nations and myriad other large organizations in this Swiss town, there are plenty of airplanes coming and going.
According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Paul Biya, President For Life of Cameroon, has spent more than 5 of his 35 years in office out of his country.
Much of that time has been spent in Geneva with a large entourage, visiting a favorite five-star hotel. The OCCRP estimates his hotel bills alone add up to $65 million. The flights, $182 million.
A quarter of Cameroon’s population earns less than $2 per day. Need I say more?
And what has all this to do with a Color Accounting blog, you may ask? In a word: transparency.
Imagine if all the world could demand, read and understand the numbers that explain their living conditions, their businesses and their government.
Transparency is a good that makes the world a better place for all. Except, that is, despots.
Peter
