Abstract
This article shows how health law and public policy, in seeking to regulate traditional medicine, without fully recognising it, paradoxically end up producing the very social conditions for the corruption that they are supposed to combat. The aim is to identify, based on the experience of traditional healers, the various factors that contribute to establishing corruption not as a moral choice, but as a pragmatic strategy for preserving their knowledge, resources, and place in the healthcare system. The analysis presented is based on a qualitative survey of 30 traditional medicine practitioners in Yaoundé and Douala between 2021 and 2026, in combination with semi-structured interviews and fieldwork observations. The article highlights the fact that by viewing the plurality of traditional practitioners as a deviation, social and legal frameworks ignore the dynamics of the societies from which they originate and instead perpetuate their disqualification. It also analyses the specific situations in which traditional practitioners resort to corruption as a strategy to overcome obstacles posed by state agents. By analysing corruption from the margins of the health system, this article contributes to research on the unintended effects of law and public policy, showing how the regulation of medical pluralism can lead to informality.
Recommended Citation
Oyane Ossah, Victorine
(2025)
"Corruption in the Service of the Common Good: The Legitimation of Traditional Practitioners in Cameroon,"
Journal of Law and Public Policy: Vol. 9:
Iss.
2, Article 5.
Available at:
https://repository.nls.ac.in/jlpp/vol9/iss2/5