Bureaucratic Leadership and Corruption in the Cameroon Public Service The Case of the Police Service in Buea Municipality, SW Region

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Bureaucratic Leadership and Corruption in the Cameroon 
Public Service: The Case of the Police Service in 
Buea Municipality, SW Region 
Loh Yai Ngwe Comfort 
University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon 
 
ABSTRACT 
Changes in the organizational environment of the Cameroon public 
sector are increasingly complex and competitive; and as the nature, 
volume, and severity of crimes investigation increases from time to 
time among street level bureaucrats, efforts to curb this corruption 
have been tilted towards police leadership (Jones: 2014:6). This study 
sought to investigate the link between bureaucratic leadership and 
corruption in the police service in Buea Municipality. Specifically, 
the study examined the link between the transformational, 
transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles on corruption in the 
police service in Buea Municipality. Using a descriptive survey 
research design, the study adopted and modified Bass and Avolios 
(2000) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ, Form 5X). The 
questionnaires were administered to 197 randomly sampled police 
officials alongside 5 drivers purposively selected in Buea with whom 
interviews were conducted. The Statistical Package for Social 
Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used and the hypotheses tested using 
the Spearmans Rho Correlation Coefficient. This study found a very 
significant, 
negative 
and moderate 
relationship between 
transformational leadership style and corruption; a significant, 
positive and moderate relationship between transactional leadership 
style and corruption and a very significant, positive and strong 
relationship was established between laissez-faire leadership style 
and corruption. It was concluded that subordinate police officers 
greatly acknowledge the practice of the transactional leadership style 
in administration than the others. The laissez-faire leadership style 
characterized by much leniency and much discretion greatly results in 
fraudulent acts and of criminality than the transformational and 
transactional leadership styles. It was recommended that police 
bosses should be strict and very observant; institute positive 
competition and offer intellectual stimulation and appeal to their 
followers, provide relevant, moral, material and financial means as 
stated in the text. 
 
 
KEYWORDS: Bureaucratic, Leadership, Corruption, Cameroon and 
Public Service 
 
How to cite this paper: Loh Yai Ngwe 
Comfort "Bureaucratic Leadership and 
Corruption in the Cameroon Public 
Service: The Case of the Police Service 
in Buea Municipality, SW Region" 
Published 
in 
International 
Journal of Trend in 
Scientific Research 
and Development 
(ijtsrd), 
ISSN: 
2456-6470, 
Volume-5 | Issue-6, 
October 2021, pp.1038-1074, URL: 
www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd47569.pdf 
 
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International Journal of Trend in 
Scientific Research and Development 
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Open Access article 
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1. 
INTRODUCTION 
1.1. Background to the Study 
Corruption is as old as man and it is a universal 
problem not restricted to a particular area because it 
knows no frontier (Odessey, 1999:23). It is a canker 
warm that easily eats deep to the social and moral 
fabric of any society. According to (Adebimbe and 
Adeleke, 2009:10) corruption is an ubiquitous social-
political phenomenon which ravages across all levels  
 
 
of 
the society, whether 
local, national and 
international. It exists in varying degrees in the 
United States, Britain, France, Greece, and in Italy 
and likewise manifestation differs greatly from 
country to country. Corruption originated from the 
Latin Word corrupmpere, which means bribe, mar or 
destroy”. Much evidence suggests that it has been 
 
 
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around the world from time immemorial, and in 
recent times, it has occupied a front seat in global 
discussion (Bechem, 2018:1). The origin of the 
phenomenon cannot be pinpointed; while some argue 
that it is traceable to the medieval era while pope was 
dispensing undue favoritism to his relatives in his 
appointment of the more competent non-relatives, 
some argue that it is under the modern capitalist era 
greed and avarice began. 
Corruption is a virus that poses a threat to global 
socio-economic and political advancement, thus, a 
universal antidote would be most suitable to 
counteract its propaganda (Aluko, 2002). In this light, 
numerous international symposiums and conventions 
have focused on the eradication of corruption across 
the world through the creation of institutions and the 
utilization of diverse instruments ranging from the 
enactment of domestic and international laws, to the 
endorsement of global cooperation introducing and 
sanctioning perpetrators of corrupt practices. These 
include among others, the 1996 organization of 
American States inter American convention Against 
Corruption; the 1997 convention on the fight against 
corruption involving officials of the European 
communities or officials of members states of 
European Union (this convention was adopted by the 
council of the European Union; the 1997 organization 
for Economic Co-operation and Development 
(OECD) Convention on Combating bribery of foreign 
public 
officials 
in 
International 
business. 
Transactions, the 2003 African Union Convention on 
Preventing and Combating Corruption; the United 
Nations Convention against corruption (Egbeyong, 
2018:23).  
Historically, it is very clear corruption is not a new 
phenomenon two thousand years ago, Kautilya, the 
Prime Minister of an Indian King had already written 
a book, Arthashastra, discussing it (Tanzi, 1998: 32). 
Seven centuries ago, Dante placed bribes in the 
deepest parts of Hall, reflecting the medieval distaste 
for corrupt behavior. Shakespeare gave corruption a 
prominent role in some of his plays, and the 
American constitution made bribery one of two 
explicitly mentioned crimes which could lead to the 
impeachment of a U. S President. However, the 
degree of attestation currently paid to corruption is 
unprecedented and nothing short of extraordinary. For 
example, in its end of year editorial on December 31, 
1995, the financial times characterized 1995 as the 
year of corruption (Tanzi, 1998: 32).  
Historically, several arguments can be advanced that 
suggest that corruption is simply attracting more 
attention now than in the past. First, the end of the 
Cold War has stopped the political hypocrisy that had 
made the decision makers in some industrial countries 
ignore political corruption that existed in particular 
countries such as Zaire. As long as the hatters were in 
the night political camp, there was a tendency to 
overlook obvious cases of high level of corruption 
((Tanzi, 1998: 32). Also, probably due to lack of 
adequate information and or reluctance to talk about it 
by those familiar with these countries, there was a 
tendency to overlook cases of high-level corruption of 
centrally planned economy. It is now widely known 
that centrally –planned economy such as the Soviet 
Union, or those imitating them through highly 
regimented economic activities, such as Nicaragua 
and Tanzania, experienced a great deal of corrupt 
practices. However, these practices were either 
ignored or not widely reported at the time. Donor 
countries also tended to play down this problem in 
countries which they assisted financially, even in the 
face of misuse or misappropriation of foreign aid.  
Conversely, global concerns about corruption have 
intensified in recent years because of increase 
evidence that corruption undermines economic 
development (World Bank, 1997: 12). Also, the 
opportunities to address corruption have equally 
increased as new global standards of behavior are 
emerging, driven partly by changing attitudes towards 
transnational bribery in industrial countries and partly 
by heightened awareness in developing countries of 
the costs of corruption. Since 1994, unprecedented 
efforts have been made to raise awareness about 
corruption, its insidious nature and the damaging 
effects it has on the welfare of entire nations and their 
peoples (United Nations Anti-Corruption Toolkit, 
2004: 11). Hence, there is now increasing recognition 
in both the public and private sectors that corruption 
is a serious obstacle to effective governance, 
economic growth and stability. In view of which, 
anti-corruption policies and legislation are urgently 
required at the national and international level. 
Again, corruption is a phenomenon no country is 
immune to and it has been a well-known fact for quite 
some time that the classical view on corruption to 
concern only less developed countries, does not hold. 
Even though developing countries do score 
systematically worse in corruption ratings, more than 
two thirds of the countries worldwide suffer 
significantly from corruption including half the G20, 
and that there is no nation in the world where 
corruption is not an issue whatsoever combating 
corruption calls for an international collaboration with 
all nations understanding their relevance in this 
process especially as corruption is strongly related to 
inequality and growth (Heldman, 2017). Corruption 
does not only distort leaders’ ability to exercise their 
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administrative prowess in decision-making, it also 
deters investment, undermines competitiveness and, 
ultimately, weakens economic growth. Indeed, there 
is evidence that the social, legal, political and 
economic aspects of development are all linked, and 
that corruption 
in any one sector 
impedes 
development in them all.  
Corruption is presently one of the major challenges 
facing the human race. The world over, corruption is 
increasingly being seen as a threat to human existence 
to the extent that some commentators have called for 
it to be recognized as a crime against humanity 
Indeed corruption has been identified as the main 
obstacle to the realization of good governance, 
sustainable 
development 
and 
millennium 
Development Goals. It has monumental effects on the 
political, economic, social and cultural well-being of 
societies. In Africa, for instance, the commission for 
Africa identified corruption as a central concern 
which 
negatively 
affects 
governance 
and 
development on the continent. The grim situation of 
Africa can be summarized in the words of (Rwekaza 
et al, 2006:136) who observed that while other 
regions increased per capital, raised literacy rates and 
improved health care, per capital, income in Africa 
was roughly the same in 1990s as it was at 
independence in 1960s.  
Africas development has stagnated and declined 
significantly over the years, with nearly half of the 
continents population living on less than a dollar a 
day, thus representing 30 percent of the worlds 
poorest country in the 1990s and even the first decade 
of 2000. Africa persistently ranks at or near bottom in 
global comparison of social indicators. This state of 
affairs is mainly attributable to the culture of 
impurity, corruption and bad governance. Corruption 
can further be seen as introduced in Africa through 
colonialism. This brand of corruption survived the 
struggle for independence in many African countries 
and has since been nourished by the weak institutions 
and 
leadership 
in post-colonial Africa. The 
institutions were later emasculated to enhance 
concentration of state power in the hands of cabals of 
politicians thus creating an environment not 
conducive to participating democracy and the 
development of an expanded economic role of this 
state. According to Walligo, the pattern of evolution 
of corruption in Africa suggest that it has been 
increasing progressively from one historical epoch to 
another with an emerging trend of increasing levels of 
corruption with modernization and civilization in all 
African countries.  
It is not disputable that Africa is the poorest continent 
in the world, and the richest in terms of natural 
resources. Today the image of this Blessed continent 
is battered by corruption and leadership corruption 
has tragically devastated African societies and made 
millions of people destitute. The tentacles has reached 
everywhere in the African continent from the offices 
of presidents and prime ministers to the smallest 
administrative unit of government, corruption is 
found everywhere. Crucial to this crisis of corruption 
engulfing the African continent is the problem of 
purposeful leadership that could act as architect and 
engineer of progressive change and development 
(Ebegbulem, 2012:45). Anyone who has the 
opportunity to count the number of times African 
states have been accused of being corrupt in foreign 
media will 
lost count. Thus, without any 
obscurantism, there is no doubt all the changes are 
true, as there are both domestic and foreign 
investigation cases in Africa. All these have question 
the capacity of African leaders to deal with the issue 
of corruption (Momoh, 2015: 346). 
Moreover governance in Africa plays significant role 
in determining the relationship between the leaders 
and followers in allocating state resources in order to 
improve the socio economic wellbeing of Africans. It 
is in this basis that government depends on the 
citizens to carry out its constitutional functions and 
provide the needed platform of social engagement 
between leaders and citizens in addressing socio-
economic issues like poverty (Nnoli, 2003:78). 
However, the issue of poverty in Africa has been 
linked to at the institutional level. This means that to 
aid Africa of corruption, efforts must start and be 
targeted at this level. A country that is plagued with 
corruption cannot develop its a actors to their fullest 
potentials; therefore, corruption like transparency and 
good governance affects all facets of a countrys 
existence-economy, society and polity, thereby leads 
to ineffectiveness in leadersip (Momoh, 2013:23). 
Furthermore, the enormous resources lost to 
corruption both internally and externally that would 
have been channeled to address the issue of 
underdevelopment in Africa have been a great 
concern to those who sees corruption as a threat to the 
continent must be addressed. Lastly, the endemic 
nature of corruption in Africa especially at the 
institutional levels as question the capacity of African 
states to deal with the issue of corruption in which 
huge resources are lost to rather the content level of 
poverty is on the increase. 
Corruption is a cankerworm that has invaded the 
Cameroonian, society. It cut across all sectors in 
Cameroon, be it public or private sector and, not even 
the church is free of corruption, it is aged old 
phenomenon that has plagued the Cameroonian, 
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society notably in the Health, Educational, and 
Judicial, financial, military and in the Law and order 
departments. Cameroon has twice topped the chart of 
the most corrupt states in the world-1998 and 1999 as 
per Transparency International indices. Corruption is 
manifested in several forms including bribery, 
nepotism, graft, fraud, speed money, theft, pilferage, 
embezzlement, falsification of records and influence 
peddling (Bechem, 2018:23). 
Corruption (Commission or mission) is punishable 
under section 134 of the penal code of Cameroon. It 
indicts Any national foreign or international civil 
servant or public employee, who for himself or for a 
third party solicits, accepts or receives any offer, 
promise gift or present in order to perform refrain 
from performing or postpone any act of his office. 
Also indicted under this section is anyone who 
receives a reward as remuneration for having already 
performed or refrained from performance of an act. 
The popular notion of a corrupt person suggests that 
only the receiver is corrupt. However, this is far from 
the truth as the giver commits no lesser evil. The 
Cameroonian Penal Code goes as far as punishing the 
corruptor. It provides that, whoever makes promises, 
offers, gifts and presents or yields to request liable to 
result 
in corruption in order to obtain the 
performance, postponement or abstention from an act 
or one of the favors or benefits shall be punished in a 
like manner as under section (134C1) above whether 
corruption produced its effects or not other sections of 
the Penal Code punishing corruption in the public 
service (indulgence), (under demand) (compulsion of 
public servant), (procuring influence), (corruption of 
employee), and misappropriation of public fund 
(Cameroon Penal Code), or (Eybeyong, 2018:6). 
The classification of Cameroon as the most 
corruption nation in the world in 1998 and 1999 made 
the government more, willing than ever to fight the 
ill. The Slogan corruption, kills the nation was 
adopted by the government in its fight against 
corruption. The national newspaper Cameroon, 
tribune had a column devoted every day to 
corruption. The aim of this campaign was to educate 
Cameroonians on the ills of corruption and the 
potential damage it could do to the nation if it 
persisted (Bechem, 2018:4).  
The advent of the 21st century brought about changes 
in the fight against corruption which was until them 
predominantly handled by local courts. Several 
institutions were created to combat this crime in 
Cameroon. The very first of these was the National 
Anti-corruption observatory created 
in 2000 
following pressure mounted on the Cameroonian 
government by the US State department, the Bretton 
Woods Institution and Transparency International 
lack of financial and structural autonomy marred the 
functioning of this institution, thereby leading, to its 
replacement with the National Anti-Corruption 
Cameroon (NACC, known by its French acronym 
CONAC in, 2006. Since its creation, CONAC has led 
the fight against corruption mainly via investigation 
of corrupt officials and transmission of the reports to 
the presidency to visa the prosecution of the 
criminals. 
Aside CONAC, the office of supreme state Audit is 
also a leading body in the fight against corruption in 
Cameroon today. In 2011, a special criminal court 
was created to prosecute state officials who 
misappropriated funds valued equal to or above fifty 
million Francs CFA. Since then, several top state 
officials, including a former Prime Minister, minister 
of state in charge of territorial Administration and 
decentralization, minister of finance and numerous 
General Managers of public enterprise and para stater 
have been convicted by this court for funds. These are 
clear indications that the advent of the 21th century 
brought about a drastic change in the governments 
fight against corruption in Cameroon. The operation 
sparrow Hawk was Launched by the president of the 
republic and placed under the coordination of the vice 
Prime Minister, Minister of justice, and keeper of the 
seals, to track down and expose public servants who 
misappropriate state funds (Egbeyong, 2018:4) 
Despite being a dangerous phenomenon in the 
Cameroonian society, the danger of corruption is 
hugely amplified when it is the police themselves that 
are corrupt. They are expected to be the guardians of 
the rules and norms that are agreed upon in the 
country. As stated by Hubert (2002: 2), acts of 
corruption by people in power have long shaken 
public faith in government, but the loss of public faith 
is particularly acute when these acts involve the 
police that is because the public relies on the police to 
uphold law, protect the community and assist it in 
times of need. Police are the most visible arm of 
government for most citizens and a yard stick by 
which they measure authority when an officer acts 
illegally, he dishonors both himself and the law and 
justice system he represents. Unfortunately, the 
organizational culture of the police does encourage 
some offices to commit acts of corruption (William 
2002:56). Such acts might involve taking monetary 
bribes, abusing their authority or concealing criminal 
enterprises more importantly, or ethnic and racial 
discrimination. When police organizations fail to 
punish travesties of justice, they inadvertently foster a 
culture of corruption that breads discrimination 
deception and greed. 
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In Cameroon, the 2013 GCB shows that 69 percent of 
household had paid a bribe to police (Anti-corruption 
help desk). The judicial police is an enforcement 
body directed by the general Delegation for National 
Security (DGSN) and the state Secretariat for Defense 
(SED (Anti-Corruption help Desk). This is further 
buttressed by the A country profile of Cameroon 
published on the British Anti-corruption portal 
website, in a section titled Police (paragraph headed 
individual 
corruption”) 
which 
states. 
The 
Cameroonian police are perceived to be the most 
corrupt public institution in the country, with a large 
percentage of the surveyed households who had 
contact with the police in 2009 reporting to have paid 
a bribe, as illustrated in Transparency Internationals 
Global corruption Barometer (2010:98) . The US 
Department of state 2011 lists a few examples of how 
corruption takes place between the police and 
citizens, individuals reportedly pay bribe to police to 
secure their freedom or to pass through individuals 
involved in their personal disputes. The US 
Department of State (2011) further cites a 2010 report 
by the Minister of justice on Human Rights in 
Cameroon which states that 296 police officers were 
sentenced tried in 2010 for wrong doing, such as 
extortion. According to Global integrity (2008), it is 
customary for drivers to pay between 500frs and 
1000frs in bribes at checkpoints”.  
Despite being a major cankerworm to administration 
and the economy as a whole, research on the roles 
and behavior of the police has been almost neglected 
in academia; with attention focused more on 
criminology. During the period of decolonization in 
the 1960s, however, observers and practitioners were 
acutely aware of the role of the police and judiciary 
for development. How eruptions of violence and 
development might be interlinked was a question of 
survival for old and new political elites alike. Like 
other police departments across the globe, leaders in 
the Buea police department are not immune to police 
misconduct and abuse of power as various cases of 
police brutality in the country have been reported in 
this sector. Community cases regarding the police 
misconduct have never been resolved and instead 
have been covered up by the leadership.  
The significance of the concept of leadership in the 
social sciences can be traced back seven thousand 
years ago; but interest in the leadership in the police 
organisations has only recently come to prominence 
among scholars and practitioners (Schafer, 2001:11). 
Leadership in the police forces has been discussed as 
the exercise of command authority in the event of 
crisis (Haberfeld, 2006:21). Rowe (2006:67), 
however, asserts that it is due to the current 
inflexibility in the police administration that bringing 
changes to the police organisation is like attempting 
to bend an iron’. This differentiates police, military 
and public safety from several other fields, where 
there is always the time to make changes by looking 
for inputs, producing consensus and communicating 
underlying principles (Mckinney, 2008:63). The 
capacity to perform all of these tasks might be needed 
by the police leaders simultaneously. 
The performance of police leaders has come under 
increasing scrutiny in the previous few decades, as 
the expectations placed on police organizations and 
their employees, driven by the goals pursuing optimal 
effectiveness and efficiency have shifted along with 
demands for significant programmatic, technological, 
administrative and strategic innovation (Braga & 
Weisburd, 2006:15). Analogous with changes in 
police practice, modern police organizations must 
embrace contemporary standards of organizational 
functioning, 
leadership 
and 
performance 
management. In essence, police organizations need to 
operate according to accountability and governance 
frameworks, similar to other complex organizations 
(Casey & Mitchell, 2007: 56). According to Elite et 
al. (2014), incidents in which police personnel cross 
their limit has led to the emergence of debate on the 
role of leadership to control police misconduct and 
their effective accountability across the globe. The 
complexity of the nature of policing and its 
implications for leadership lies in the fact that leaders 
lack the power to supervise the conduct of the 
bureaucrats in the streets. For example, although final 
decisions to detain and charge the suspect are taken at 
the police station by the limited number of senior 
police officers, the first decision to arrest a suspect 
and bring them to the police station lies in the hands 
of bureaucrats patrolling the streets. As such, their 
allegiance to meet personal benefits would result in 
decisions that would derail leaders’ ability to take 
right judgment about the true state of the crime or 
case. This is because as leaders at the bureau, they 
solely rely on these officers to know about the state of 
things in the field especially during patrol. 
According to Henry, (2003:93) the extent to which 
police executives and operational police officers 
create beneficial changes within their organizations to 
accommodate the evolving demands will not only 
determine the ultimate success and failure of policing 
as an institution, but will say a great deal about the 
quality and effectiveness of police leadership. 
Meanwhile, police work is experiencing major 
changes as those in the field continue to grapple with 
the challenging issues facing modern-day law 
enforcement   from the increasing impact of video 
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(citizen smartphones and police body cameras) to 
anti-terrorism efforts and the opioid epidemic 
(Fritzvold, 2020:32). Due to this evolution, police 
leadership styles are equally changing; from the 
ancient authoritative leadership style that had largely 
dominated the field to a more inclusive approach that 
seeks to enable and empower rather than simply 
command. Such that many police departments today 
have started recognizing the benefits of a more 
inclusive, 
transformational 
and 
transactional 
approaches, rather than relying solely on the more 
authoritative leadership style that has characterized 
police work for so long (Fritzvold, 2020:92). 
Authoritative leadership is strictly rule-based with a 
Problem Statement  
Changes in the organizational environment of the 
Cameroon public sector are increasingly complex and 
competitive; and as the nature, volume, and severity 
of crimes investigation increases from time to time 
among street level bureaucrats, efforts to curb this 
corruption have been tilted towards police leadership. 
Leaders are role models in organizations, so the 
change must start from the very top level (Jones: 
2014: 6); where police force need reformist leaders 
who can be the driving force to curb corruption 
among street level bureaucrats.  
Based on Webers (1958: 8), 3 kinds of power in an 
organization; traditional authority wherein workers 
(considered servants) are dependent upon the leader 
(ford) working as their servants and following the 
stated rules and regulations blindly; charismatic 
power due to the extraordinary personality of the 
manager, the workers are deeply motivated to 
perform their best on the task allotted to them and 
legal rational authority where the workers need to 
abide by the legal rules or the naturally applicable 
laws. Hence, formal organisations like the police can 
borrow their leadership principles from it. Although it 
cannot be rightfully stated that the administration of 
the Civil department is as such, it is still obvious that 
a glimpse of it can be seen in the management of 
Civil departments, political and government 
organisations. This poses varied forms of challenges 
that 
Also, some organisations adopt the bureaucratic 
theory; wherein there is specialization as work is 
divided among the employees according to their 
skills, capabilities and expertise. There is equally 
skilled based recruitment as employees are recruited 
matching their skills and experiences as well as 
predictability as seen in a systematic hierarchy with 
defined rules and methods of performing the 
complicated tasks in the organization. Actions in 
similar situations become somewhat predictable for 
the management and the subordinates. There is 
equality as the management remains unbiased 
towards the employees and ensures a four judgement 
at the time of any issue, or problem in the 
organization. This is further buttressed by the concept 
of Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing, 
Coordinating, 
Reporting 
and 
Budgeting 
(POSDCORB) developed by Luther Gullick and 
Lynda Urwick which highlights the theory of span of 
control, or limits on the number of people one 
manager could supervise, as well as unity of 
command to the fields of management and public 
administration.  
The Street level bureaucracy theory rather debunks 
the above; as Lipsky (1980: 9) presents a different 
leadership style applicable in scenarios where public 
service workers interact directly with citizens in the 
course of their jobs, and who have substantial 
discretion in the execution of their work. In such 
scenarios, 
there 
is 
no 
boss, 
subordinate 
relationship/supervision and bureaucrats in the field 
exercise their power with much discretion. There is 
likelihood that acts of corruption might be perpetrated 
here as subordinates (police officers) feel safer to 
engage in such acts without any fear of being caught. 
Hence, a monitoring mechanism need to be put in 
place to observe field workers. All these various 
leadership and management dimensions have 
different effects on the rate of corruption recorded in 
this departments; which is a concern to public 
administrators to be studied.  
According to Transparency international in its 2019 
Corruption Perception Index, it is unfortunate that 
many instruments are missing in the countrys anti-
corruption framework; these include the Anti-
Corruption Law. Corrupt police officials arrest and 
abuse individuals in exchange for monetary rewards 
from influential entities and individuals. For instance, 
a popular Cameroon newspaper, the Journal du 
Cameroun.com (March, 2020) reported a clandestine 
network of three State officials allegedly involved in 
the illicit fabrication of Cameroon passport. While 
attempting to extort a huge amount of money from a 
Cameroonian student based in Canada who had 
returned to the country to renew her passport, the 
suspects asked the student to give them four hundred 
thousand frs instead of the seventy-eight thousand 
required to have the passport renewed within days. 
In Buea in particular, most people consider the police 
to be corrupt as they engineer strife, unfairly 
investigate crimes or even perpetrate them. As 
reported by Azohnwi in camerooninfo.net (July, 
2020), taxi drivers in Buea grounded their tools to 
protest against what they describe as brutality and 
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extortion from security forces in the town. The 
protesters said their annoyance stems from the fact 
that one of their colleagues was physically assaulted 
by a police officer who refused to give a FCFA 500 
bribe to the officer arguing that his documents were 
complete and there was no reason for him to grease 
the palms of the law enforcement officer. It is this 
resistance that caused the police officer to slap the 
driver.  
Also, it is commonly reported that police in Buea 
arrest citizens unduly in their homes and along the 
streets and demand a fee for their released. This is 
considered a big scam to Cameroon security force as 
many ask did the people commit any crime? These 
acts of criminality have aggravated since the onset of 
the Anglophone crises as most officers conduct mass 
arrest and search of national identity cards and in 
return collect a ransom even for those in possession 
of National ID cards. All these and many make breed 
the notion that the leadership styles implemented by 
the officials of 
the Buea police force are 
inconsequential.  
The literature on police leadership styles influencing 
achievement of goals is an intricate area of study, 
especially when considering how police leaders and 
managers impact their bureaucrats towards exercising 
their roles (Densten, 2003; Durić, 2011; Sarver & 
Miller, 2014; Swid, 2014: 4). The problem is 
associated with the police leader’s demonstration of 
specific leadership styles which affect the attitudes 
and 
commitment 
of 
bureaucrats 
towards 
organizational policy measures and primarily 
exhibited through their attitude towards acts of 
corruption in the community. As such, leadership 
styles of police managers have some consequences in 
terms of police officers’ engagement in acts of 
corruption. To illustrate the influence of police 
leadership style and police officers’ commitment to 
obtain the organization goals, Jaramillo, Nixon, and 
Sams’ (2005: 135) study, surveying police officers 
working in three counties in Florida, proves that 
police officers whose supervisors support them in 
their work have more commitment to achieve 
organisational goals than police officers whose 
supervisors do not support them. 
By investigating the influence of leadership style on 
corruption in the Buea Police sector, 
it 
is 
hypothesized that leadership styles (transformational, 
transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles) have 
varying roles to play in combating corruption; yet 
each is effective by providing different ways in which 
leaders interact with subordinates to minimize corrupt 
practices among street level bureaucrats. The 
leadership styles of police managers may play a 
crucial role in transferring explicit and tacit 
knowledge about the ills of corruption and measures 
to resist the potential corruption schemes among 
police officers. Police managers’ leadership styles 
characterised by monitoring measures would reduce 
freedom and discretion among police bureaucrats and 
probably reduce the chances of corruption.  
Besides, existing studies are based on leadership 
styles (transformational and laissez-faire) and its 
influence on organisational performances/ job 
satisfaction (Miller, 2020; Ahmed, Zakeer, & Nawaz, 
Allah, & Khan, Irfan; 2016, Ali, Sidow & Guleid ; 
2013: 9), the role of police management in knowledge 
sharing in a police organization (Alsayed, Motaghi 
and Osman 2012:48; Berg et al., 2008:98; Lin & Lee, 
2004:90) while others emphasize the perception of 
the public about police leadership style (Domoro and 
Agil, 2012:28; Campbell and Kodz, 2011:13). More 
so, existing studies are conducted in different settings 
like Phoenix, India, Mogadishu, Palestine, Nigeria, 
etc.  
Few existing studies in Cameroon have addressed 
other aspects of corruption like fighting corruption in 
Africa: The anticorruption system in Cameroon 
(Nguemegne, 2011:75) and Cameroons anti-
corruption campaign: a paper tiger (Ndikum, 
2001:32). Hence, no study has been found addressing 
leadership styles and corruption in the police sector in 
Cameroon, making this study imperative. Besides, 
other studies do not embed the street level 
bureaucracy theory (Lipsky, 1980) which is a major 
theory that guides police officers exercise of duties in 
the society. This study would therefore address these 
major research lacunas.  
1.2. Research Questions of the Study 
The research questions of the study comprise the 
general and specific research questions 
1.2.1. General Research Question of the Study 
The main research question is; what is the link 
between bureaucratic leadership and corruption in the 
police service in Buea Municipality. 
1.2.2. Specific Research Questions of the Study 
The following are the specific research questions of 
the study: 
1. What is the link between transformational 
leadership style and corruption in the police 
service in Buea Municipality? 
1.3. Objectives of the Study 
The work comprises the general and specific 
objectives of the study. 
1.3.1. General Objectives of the Study 
This study seeks to investigate the link between 
bureaucratic leadership and corruption in the police 
service in Buea Municipality. 
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1.3.2. Specific Objectives of the Study 
The specific objectives of the study are to:  
1. Identify the link between the transformational 
leadership style and corruption in the police 
service in Buea Municipality; 
1.4. Research Hypotheses  
The following are the testable research hypotheses of 
the study; 
1. H0: μ = 1, i.e., there is a significant link between 
the 
transformational 
leadership style and 
corruption in the police service in Buea 
Municipality; 
1.  H1: μ = 1, i.e., there is a significant link between 
the 
transformational 
leadership style and 
corruption in the police service in Buea 
Municipality; 
1.5. Significance of the Study 
This study is significant to academicians, Cameroon 
government and the police institution. 
Policy Significance  
The study was unique in its timing, as it was 
conducted at the very time that the government 
renewed its commitment to pursue greater success in 
the fight against corruption in Cameroon. Hence, 
findings about leadership styles and corruption would 
be beneficial to pave a pathway of economic 
prosperity and good governance as police managers 
would seek to uphold leadership styles that are most 
influential in curbing corruption. Hopefully, results 
would help in taking decisions towards emergence by 
2035 (Ministry of the Economy, Planning, and 
Regional Development, 2009:2). The study coincided 
with renewed interest in the battle against corruption 
in Cameroon.  
Another significance of the study could be seen in the 
different government anticorruption strategies it 
would generate from the citizens who are most often 
victims of corruption. This might be perceived as 
effective, and thus would better address the needs of 
the people. This study would help the Cameroon 
government to review the various mechanism put in 
place to fight or curb corruption. 
This study would equally help the police in Cameroon 
to understand the disadvantages, corruption is causing 
to the social, economic and political sectors of the 
country. 
2. 
LITERATURE REVIEW 
This chapter consist a review of literature; divided 
into 3 main sections. Conceptual review examines the 
two main concepts in this study, leadership styles 
(independent variable) and corruption (dependent 
variable). It is further examines the causes, 
manifestations, consequences and anti-corruption 
strategies in the police sector. It further presents 
theoretical review, empirical studies and ends with 
the research gap.  
2.1. Conceptual Review  
2.1.1. Leadership 
There is no agreed upon definition for the concept of 
leadership, rather there are almost as many definitions 
of leadership as there are persons who have attempted 
to define the concept (Stogdill, 1974: 34); an 
indication that leadership covers a broad range of 
topics for discussion and debate (Abdouli, 2017: 27). 
Also, different schools of thought have their own 
specific definitions of who a leader is or should be, 
but for the purpose of this study we apply some 
definitions that are deemed necessary in the police 
administration.  
To begin with, Deborah (2001: 56) defined a leader as 
an individual who is capable of visualizing an 
improved environment in the future and convinced 
others to join him/her on the journey. Lanny (2003: 
20) considered a leader as someone who is hunted out 
for his/her expertise in data, guidelines and 
consultation; however, since experience has an 
essential role in this description of the leader, Fischer 
(2016: 23) suggested that a leader is made and not 
born. Marques (2009: 76) equally attempted this by 
advancing that leaders being made not born through 
arguing that all leaders are born as are all humans; 
however they came to lead due to life consequences, 
circumstances or other factors. Credibility of Fischers 
(2016: 6) and Marques’ (2009: 6) arguments holds by 
admitting that leaders may have been born with 
certain skills that resulted in enhancing their chances 
of becoming a leader.  
Extended to leadership, Northouse (2013) assert that 
leadership is a process whereby an individual 
influences a group of individuals to achieve a 
common target. Such practices are used by managers 
through their creative and knowledgeable skills of 
leadership. Leadership basically refers to either the 
behaviour of an individual or the organization as a 
unit of analysis which creates a culture that integrates 
what the organization claims it believes and how it 
actually behaves in a critical element in optimizing 
organizational performances.  
According to Burns (1978: 5), leadership means 
leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that 
represent the values and the motivation--the wants 
and needs, the aspirations and expectations--of both 
leaders and followers. And the genius of leadership 
lies in the manner in which leaders see and act on 
their own and their followers’ values and motivations. 
Leadership aims to make the organization more 
relevant; by creating and proposing innovative 
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problem solving mechanisms, and see to that policies 
which were introduced to address the changes been 
brought about by modernization and transformation, 
are effectively implemented. This also applies to the 
anti-corruption measures created by government 
Yukl (1989: 19) defines leadership as “the process of 
influencing others to understand and agree about what 
needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of 
facilitating individual and collective efforts to 
accomplish shared objectives”. It also refers to the 
process whereby an individual influences a group of 
individuals to achieve a common goal. Viewing 
leadership as a process means that leaders affect and 
are affected by their followers either positively or 
negatively. It also stresses the fact that leadership is a 
two-way, interactive event between leaders and 
followers rather than a linear, one-way event in which 
the leader only affects the followers (Barrett, 2006: 
67). Besides, other aspects of leadership involves: 
leadership as a process, 
leadership involves 
influencing others, leadership happens within the 
context of a group, leadership involves goal 
attainment, and these goals are shared by leaders and 
their followers. The very act of defining leadership as 
a process suggests that leadership is not a 
characteristic or trait with which only a few, certain 
people are endowed with at birth (Asamoah, 2017: 
54). Defining leadership as a process means that 
leadership is a transactional event that happens 
between leaders and their followers. 
Leadership happens most often among people and 
usually involves the use of influence to attain goals. 
Influencing people imply that the relationship 
between leader and his people are not passive. 
Furthermore, influence has been made to attain some 
specific end or goal. So, when Fairhurt (2007: 23) 
defines leadership as the ability to influence people 
towards the achievement of goals then he captures the 
idea that leaders must be involved with other people 
in the attainment of results or goals. The attitude and 
behaviors put forth by leaders play an essential role in 
molding followers’  attitudes especially in terms of 
job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. 
Different leaders behave in ways that are also 
different yet their success or otherwise could be a 
function of their followers needs and the situation 
prevailing within the organization (Kornor and 
Nardvik, 2010: 34). 
Leadership is a widely researched management 
subject owing to its role in meeting organizational 
goals. Public Administration scholars have begun to 
investigate 
leadership 
practices 
in 
public 
organizations (Orazi, Turrini, & Valotti, 2013; Van 
Wart, 2013: 87). Existing research however, focuses 
largely on the impact of transformational and 
transactional leadership practices (Orazi, Turrini, & 
Valotti, 2013; Van Wart, 2013: 124) with few studies 
assessing the influence of ethical managerial 
leadership in public organizations (Hassan, 2015; 
Hassan, Wright, & Yukl, 2014: 23). Modern concepts 
of leaders’ responsibility in the police sector have 
imposed some new tasks on the police and have 
increased the proportion of police effort directed at 
others. Police administrators are devoting increasing 
attention to the problem of the juvenile delinquent; 
special divisions charged with the control of juvenile 
crime and some form of treatment of the problem 
child (Wilson, 2017: 7). 
A recognition of the need for public support has also 
resulted in the direction of police effort into new 
channels; informing the public, organizing the 
community, and improving their public relations are 
tasks that are recognized today byprogressive police 
administrators as essential 
to 
the effective 
accomplishment of their purpose (Killian, 2007: 78). 
Both the police and the public have recognized a 
relationship between vice and organized crime with 
its concomitant corruption and acts of terrorism has 
resulted in an increasing proportion of police effort 
directed at their repression.  
Moving beyond the definition of the concepts of 
leadership, the bottom line upon which this study is 
built seeks to address leadership styles in the police 
sector (Key and Dennis, 2011: 5). A leader could be 
seen as any individual who has followers; this means 
that the styles leaders manifest should have influence 
over their subordinates. It is important to note the 
difference between management and leadership here 
since often these two variables of organisational life 
are misunderstood as a common phenomenon 
(Bargau, 2015: 98). 
Miltenbergers (2004: 7) presented some leadership 
qualities that many individuals often linked to leaders. 
These are: 
➢ Self-awareness –the capacity for "leading" one’s 
own self before leading others. 
➢ Awareness of workplace – the ability to 
understand the workplace they are leading in and 
how they are affected by or affecting it. 
➢ Rejection of determinism –the conviction of one's 
ability to make a difference”. 
➢ Ability to encourage and nurture subordinates – 
leaders gradually delegate tasks in such a manner 
that their subordinates gain experience. 
➢ Role modelling – leaders adopt a personality that 
encapsulates their duty and lead by example. 
➢ Empathy – leaders understand what others are 
saying, instead of analyzing how they say things. 
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In other words, we can sum up empathy as 
walking in somebody elses shoes. 
➢ Charismatic inspiration – being attractive to 
others and the ability to leverage this appreciation 
in motivating subordinates. 
Therefore, leadership qualities are the abilities of the 
leaders to lead and direct their subordinates without 
misusing their powers, and inspiring their staff while 
bearing in mind that their behaviours are always 
imitated by their subordinates (Miltenberger, 2004: 
65). Ram (2007: 8) added that these qualities refer to 
the positive or negative character of a leader. As 
noted earlier, quality can be described by synonyms 
like properties, attributes, character and traits. 
Police organisations generally deal with apprehension 
of criminals, prevention and detection of crimes in the 
community. Studies on leadership in police and 
military organisations reveal that police officials need 
supportive management and organisational support to 
improve their commitment (Dick and Metcalfe, 2007; 
Young and Dulewicz, 2009; Vito et al., 2011: 67). 
This requires that leaders in the police like any other 
organization are a key component of supportive 
management; to improve subordinates’ commitment; 
leaders need to provide organisational support and 
motivation.  
According to Denstens (2003: 43), subordinates in the 
senior police official who receive clear direction from 
the leaders are more likely to perform well, and more 
likely to have higher job satisfaction than those who 
do not receive clear directions from leaders. Many 
experienced police managers and officers found it 
difficult to accept this challenge to the practices and 
procedures that had always guided their actions. 
Thus, it was not surprising that these innovations 
were often overwhelmed by traditional policies and 
that the innovators were frequently suspected of being 
manipulated by outsiders or of pursuing their personal 
career agendas at the expense of the organization. 
Many of todays police managers have supplemented 
their professional education by studying literature 
developed since the 1970’s. Once considered radical, 
many of the strategies that evolved from this research 
on policing are now considered necessary for 
improving performance. Ideas that were raised 20 
years ago have been modified and expanded to fit 
current conditions. Police executives realize that it is 
no longer sufficient to think in terms of making only 
minor alterations to traditional management and 
operational practices. Managements current challenge 
is to meet the escalating and varied demands for 
service with more effective delivery strategies to 
optimize staff and resources, to encourage innovative 
thinking, and to involve the community in policing 
efforts 
The US Bureau of Justice Assistance (1999) stated 
that 
there are compelling reasons why law 
enforcement leaders believe the time has come to 
alter the policies and practices of their organizations. 
These reasons are rooted in the history of policing 
and police research during the last quarter of a 
century, in the changing nature of communities, and 
in the shifting characteristics of crime and violence 
that affect these communities. Policing strategies that 
worked in the past are no more effective today; as the 
desired goal, an enhanced sense of safety, securities, 
and well-being, have not been achieved. Practitioners 
agree that there is a pressing need for innovation to 
curb the crises in many communities. Both the level 
and nature of crime in this country and the changing 
character of most communities are causing police to 
seek more effective methods. More specifically, many 
urban communities are experiencing serious problems 
with illegal drugs, gang violence, murders, muggings, 
and burglaries. Suburban and rural communities have 
not escaped unscathed. They are also noting increases 
in crime and disorder.  
Delivering great leadership is far from the sole 
preserve of those at the top of the organization. It 
exists across all ranks, grades and roles and can 
describe at different levels: individual, operational, 
senior and organisational (UK College of Policing, 
2017: 6). Research on Sergeants and Platoon Leaders 
suggested that transformational leadership styles 
positively impact on platoon performance (Bass et al., 
2003: 56). The finding also suggests that those 
Sergeants with transformational leadership had a 
greater impact on the platoons performance than did 
the platoon leaders. That is, direct leadership and line 
managers are important in facilitating commitment 
and group performance. These findings provide an 
account on how transformational leadership can 
influence employees’ performance, commitment, as 
well as job satisfaction within the context of a 
military organization. Vito, Higgins, and, Denney 
(2014: 
54), 
advocate 
that 
the 
transactional/transformational leadership applies well 
to police leadership. Moreover, Andreescu and Vito 
(2010: 9) show that police officers tend to favor a 
transformational leadership style for their managers. 
2.1.2. Leadership Styles applicable in the Police 
Force 
Leadership styles are the manners and approached of 
providing direction, 
implementing plans, and 
motivating people. It includes the total pattern of 
explicit and implicit actions performed by their leader 
(Newstrom, Davis, 1993: 54).There are many forms 
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and styles of leadership, sometimes they are called 
supervisory styles. Leadership is a complex research 
area and cuts across all sectors of life; there is much 
ambiguity over which styles and behaviours are the 
most effective (Campbell and Kodz, 2011: 231). 
Difficulties of linking leadership with organisational 
outcomes are particularly pronounced for the police, 
since common police performance measures are 
affected by multiple confounding factors.  
The first major study of leadership styles was 
performed in 1939 by Kurt Lewin who led a group of 
researchers to identify different styles of leadership 
(Lewin, Lippit, White, 1939: 67). This early study has 
remained quite influential as it established the three 
major leadership styles; authoritarian or autocratic 
participative or democratic delegative or laissez-fair 
(free-rein) (U.S. Army, 1973: 76). Also, Bass and 
Avolio (1994: 67) presented three different types of 
leadership qualities (transformational, transactional 
and laissez-faire) in the police departments with each 
displaying its own distinct qualities; Cain (2017: 8) 
presents two leadership styles that emerged as critical 
in law enforcement departments; the situational 
leadership and transformational leadership styles. 
Besides, Sickels (2015) advanced three forms of 
leadership style applicable in the police force: 1) 
Transactional Leadership, 2) Transformational 
Leadership and 3) Laissez-Faire Leadership.  
Fritsvold, (2019) advanced that police work is 
undergoing significant change as those in the field 
continue to grapple with the challenging issues facing 
modern-day law enforcement; from the increasing 
impact of video (citizen smartphones and police body 
cameras) to anti-terrorism efforts and the opioid 
epidemic. As a part of this evolution, police 
leadership styles are also gradually changing, moving 
from the authoritative style that has largely dominated 
the field to a more inclusive approach that seeks to 
enable and empower rather than simply command. 
Today, many departments are beginning to recognize 
the benefits of a more inclusive, transformational and 
transactional approach, rather than relying solely on 
the more militaristic, authoritative approach that has 
characterized police work for so long. Hence, this 
study is hinged on prominent leadership styles 
empirically identified by scholars in business and 
public administration due to the outmoded nature of 
the others. 
Transformational Leadership Style 
According to Burns (1978: 6), transformational 
leadership happens when people take part in the 
leadership process and engage with others in such a 
way that each of them can elevate each other to a 
higher level of motivation. The focus is on 
encouraging the success of others. A transformational 
leader develops a vision of the future intended to 
excite and inspire followers. Ideally, transformation 
leaders create valuable and positive change in their 
followers with the end goal of teaching them to 
become leaders.  
According to (White, 2018: 19) transformational 
leadership is a theory of leadership where a leader 
works with teams to identify needed change, creating 
a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and 
executing the change in tandem with committed 
members of a group. With the transformational 
leadership style, leaders encourage, inspire and 
motivate employees to innovate and create change 
that will help grow and shape the future success of the 
company (Towler, 2019: 12). This is accomplished by 
setting an example at the executive level through a 
strong sense of corporate culture, employee 
ownership and independence in the workplace. 
Transformational leaders create a vision for their 
followers and guide the change through inspiration 
and motivation. They are excellent role models and 
their followers emulate many of their actions. They 
also inspire through activating follower self-efficacy 
so that followers believe that they can go beyond 
expectations (Barth-Farkas & Vera, 2014: 18). 
Transformational leaders inspire and motivate their 
workforce without micromanaging   they trust trained 
employees to take authority over decisions in their 
assigned jobs. Its a management style thats designed 
to give employees more room to be creative, look to 
the future and find new solutions to old problems. 
Employees on the leadership track will also be 
prepared 
to become transformational 
leaders 
themselves through mentorship and training. 
The reputation of transformational leadership is 
significant of a major shift in stance from more 
traditional transactional models of leadership that 
have become increasingly belittled over recent years 
(Cockcroft, 2014: 13). These conventional leadership 
styles began to be viewed by many as ineffective due 
to their reliance on what was viewed as little more 
than the imposition of contractual relationships’ (Bass 
and Avolio, 1993: 11). Through these relationships, 
workers are motivated by reward and punishment 
structures 
that encourage an orientation 
to 
organizational engagement predicated upon self-
interest rather than through any real emotional 
association with the values of the organization. Under 
such models, workers are motivated through rewards 
for displays of appropriate behaviour and punished 
for that which is considered inappropriate (Engel and 
Worden, 2003: 23). 
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According to Bass and Avolio (1994: 12) 
transformational leadership can be categorized into 4:  
A. Idealized influence: By this, leaders show 
admiration for their followers in order to use this 
credit to meet their and their followers’ needs. 
Since they have moral values, they do not use 
their power for personal gain. 
B. Inspirational motivation: Here, 
leaders 
emphasize the motivation of their followers to 
achieve the teams and the organizations shared 
goals. They always seek ways to inject passion 
into their followers. 
C. Intellectual stimulation: Leaders here are 
respectful of their followers’ ideas and opinions. 
Additionally, they encourage their followers to 
use their ideas and opinions in order to be 
innovative. 
D. Individualized consideration: Leaders pay 
special attention to their followers’ individual 
needs. They evaluate their followers not only as 
employees but also as individuals whose 
expectations and opinions should be respected. 
Viewed in another dimension, Bodla and Nawas 
(2010: 26) indicate that one of the components of 
transformational leadership; that is, idealized 
influence has two aspects: idealized influence 
(attributed), idealized influence (behavioral). 
Bryan (1992) advanced that 
the charismatic 
leadership which was proposed initially by House 
(1977: 65), is synonymous with the transformational 
leadership; although, charismatic leadership is a 
component of transformational leadership (idealized 
influence) (Bryman, 1992). Charismatic leadership 
takes prominence as 
the center process of 
transformation leadership. The trust and confidence 
toward to leader is so high that the followers have 
admiration and good feelings about their leaders` 
vision (Bass, Avolio, & Bebb, 1987: 67). 
Table 1: Characteristics of Transformational 
Leaders 
Charisma 
Provides vision and sense of 
mission, instills pride, gains 
respect and trust 
Inspiration 
Communicates 
high 
expectations, uses symbols to 
focus 
efforts, 
expresses 
important purposes in simple 
ways 
Intellectual 
Stimulation 
Promotes 
intelligence, 
rationality, and careful problem 
solving. 
Individualized 
Consideration 
Gives personal attention, treats 
each employee individually, 
coaches and advises 
Source: Decker, John P. (2018). "A Study of 
Transformational Leadership Practices to Police 
Ofcers' 
Job Satisfaction and Organizational 
Commitment" Seton Hall University Dissertations 
and Teses (ETDs). 
1. Charisma: As presented on Table 1, Robbins 
(2005: 78) posits that charisma is the most 
important 
characteristic 
that 
highlights 
transformational leaders. They have a lot of 
charisma, they display high intellect and they 
provide 
individualized 
considerations. 
Transformational leaders have a clear plan and 
vision, and they try to pass their goal and plan to 
the organizations members, leaders here are 
respected and trusted by their followers.  
2. Inspiration: Robbins 
(2005: 90) equally 
advanced that transformational leaders are known 
to inspire their subordinates, and they have great 
expectations of them and they let them know it 
(Table 1). 
3. Intellectual Stimulation, Such leaders in this 
category use their intelligence to deal with 
problems and employees, they teach their 
employees to be rational and how to deal with 
their problems intelligently (Table 1). 
4. Individualized 
Consideration: 
Lastly, 
transformational leaders tend to have a deeper 
connection with their employees professionally 
and personally (Robbins 2005: 56).  
In relation to the police sector, transformational 
leaders can foster a positive change in their agencies 
and communities by addressing the low morale of 
officers who are policing in an anti-police society. 
The animosity, mistrust, and criticism of law 
enforcement officers which demeans their position 
and exposes them to great corruption offers is present 
on the news, social media, and in our streets. A 
transformational leader must foster collaboration by 
mending wounds both internally and externally. 
Leaders can inspire officers by highlighting their 
achievements, recognizing their strengths, providing 
opportunities for growth, and honing their skills. 
In 
all, 
transformational 
leaders’ 
behavioral 
characteristics are appropriate for them to be a model 
for the people they lead; since they have respect and 
trust and constitute an excellent example for their 
subordinates 
to 
be 
emulated. Also 
that, 
transformational leaders are believed to have extra 
capabilities and special personalities, likewise, they 
prefer dealing rather than arbitrating. They can take 
risk whenever required and present a high level of 
moral behaviors (Carmenaty, 2013: 45). Their focus 
is on longer term goals instead of short term goals; as 
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they set the goals and give importance to the vision as 
well as inspire followers to track the vision. If a 
change is required for the vision to be accomplished, 
they change the system instead of insisting on the 
existing systems. Moreover, transformational leaders 
encourage their followers to take more responsibility 
both for their and others` development (Howell & 
Avolio, 1993: 65). 
According to Bass, Avolio, and Bebb (1987: 23) 
transformational leaders respect their subordinates` 
beliefs and values with intellectual stimulation. In this 
way, police leaders encourage their subordinates to 
think in new ways in the process of solving problems. 
With their leaders` intellectual stimulation, followers 
develop their capabilities to solve future problems. 
Besides, inspirational motivation is an important 
component of the transformational leadership style. 
Transformational 
leaders 
with 
inspirational 
motivation inspire and motivate their subordinates in 
terms of committing them to the vision of the 
organization; they also support the team spirit 
(Avolio, 1999). Bass (1996: 109) stresses that a 
transformational leader behaves in ways that motivate 
and inspire those around them by providing meaning 
and challenge to their followers` work. In other 
words, leaders create enthusiasm and optimism. 
Followers are involved in the process of transforming 
the organization`s future. With the enthusiasm created 
by the leaders, followers are inspired to commit to the 
organizations goals and shared visions.  
Burns (1978: 111) further expands upon transforming 
leadership by stating that leaders can shape, alter, and 
evaluate the motives, values, and goals of followers 
through the vital teaching role of leadership, 
regardless of separate personal interests. They are 
presently and potentially united in the pursuit of 
higher goals, the realization of which is tested by the 
achievement of significant change that represents the 
collective interests of leaders and followers. Burns 
believes that both forms of leadership contribute to 
human purpose and draws heavily upon. 
Exploring leadership opportunities that arise from 
supervisors 
to 
street-level 
bureaucrats, 
the 
transformational leadership dimensions through its 
major aspects of idealized influence (attributed) and 
idealized influence (behavioral). Leaders with 
idealized influence are often claimed to set a 
behavioral example supportive of an espoused 
organizational vision (Wright and Pandey 2010: 56); 
but they may also occupy a role model position by 
means of their strong moral principles and values 
(Northouse, 2018: 56). Subordinates identify with 
these leaders (Yukl, 2010: 6), which implies that 
idealized 
influence 
appeals 
to 
street-level 
bureaucrats’ sense of affiliation with their supervisor. 
In addition, the support and encouragement that are 
intrinsic to the individualized consideration factors 
which are likely to appeal to street-level bureaucrats’ 
basic human need for caring and approval a key 
driver of individual-level attitude change (Briñol and 
Petty, 2005: 23). Leaders aim to create attitude and 
value consistency among bureaucrats because these 
personal dispositions determine how street-level 
bureaucrats process information (Keiser 2010: 32). If 
the supervisors’ discretion use is shaped by their own 
personal beliefs and they aim to create attitudinal 
consistency among subordinates, they are likely to 
pass their own attitude towards clients on to the 
street-level bureaucrats they supervise (Brewer 2005: 
9). 
Transactional Leadership Style 
The transactional leadership style is one in which the 
leader interacts with people to exchange valuable 
resources, such as rewards. Transactional leadership 
emerges when the leader implements rewards or 
discipline to the followers according to their level of 
performance (Avolio & Bass, 2002: 87). The main 
aim of engaging with each other is to exchange 
information and receive rewards or punishments 
based on the quality of that information. This contract 
between transactional leaders and others can only be 
maintained until the contract ends. Transactional 
leaders use power to gain benefits, while followers 
correspondingly fulfill the requirement of the work 
until there is a harmony between the rewards they 
receive and their needs (Flood, Hannan, Smith, 
Turner, West & Dawson, 2000: 87).  
Transactional leadership has three major components: 
contingent reward, management by exception (active) 
and management-by-exception (passive). Contingent 
reward refers to the leaders who provide material or 
psychological rewards to their followers for obeying 
the rules and fulfilling task requirements. Also, a 
leader using the contingent reward method make an 
agreement with the follower, promising him/her a 
reward if he/she does his/her assignment in a 
satisfactory way (Avolio & Bass, 2002: 32). 
Management-by exception (active) refers to the 
leaders who observe their subordinates’ wrong 
actions, those opposite the rules and standards of the 
organization or project, in order to correct their 
actions. While, management-by-exception (passive) 
refers to leaders who only intervene and take action 
when subordinates fail to fulfill the required rules and 
objectives (Goldstein, 1990: 6). In other words, on 
one hand there are leaders that are not scared to 
correct any deviations of rules or regulations and on 
the other hand, there are leaders that only intervene if 
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the rules and regulations are not met by the 
employees.  
The leader neglects to provide instructions when 
subordinates met their objectives, he allows 
subordinates to continue to do work as usual as long 
as they meet performance goals. He intervenes only 
when problems arise. In the public sector, the leader 
monitors the subordinates, keeping track of whether 
they keep to the standards and do the correct things in 
the process of completing their assignments. If 
needed, the leader takes action to correct the mistake. 
No action is taken unless the subordinates make a 
mistake or error in their assignments. Required 
correction is taken after a subordinates mistake 
(Avolio & Bass, 2002: 15). 
As seen on Table 2, the key characteristics to 
Transactional leaders include: (1) Contingent Reward, 
which is basically rewarding employees with 
incentives in order to praise their good performance, 
(2) Management by Exception (active) and (3) 
Management by Exception (passive), There are two 
different types of managers by exception in the 
category of transactional leaders, on one hand there 
are leaders that are not scared to correct any 
deviations of rules or regulations. On the other hand, 
there are transactional leaders that only intervene if 
the rules and regulations are not met by the 
employees (Robbins 2005: 25 ).  
Table 2: Key Characteristics to Transactional 
Leaders 
Contingent 
Reward 
Contracts exchange of rewards 
for effort, promises rewards for 
good performance, recognizes 
accomplishments 
Management 
by Exception 
(active) 
Watches 
and 
searches 
for 
deviations 
from 
rules 
and 
standards, takes corrective action 
Management 
by Exception 
(passive): 
Intervenes only if standards are 
not met. 
Source: Decker, John P. (2018). "A Study of 
Transformational Leadership Practices to Police 
Officers' Job Satisfaction and Organizational 
Commitment" Seton Hall University Dissertations 
and Teses (ETDs).  
Laissez-Faire Leadership Style 
Loosely translated from its French origins, laissez-
faire leadership style basically means let it be or leave 
it alone. In practice, it means leaders leave it up to 
their subordinates to complete responsibilities in a 
manner they choose, without requiring strict policies 
or procedures (Rashid, Edmondson and Leonard, 
2000: 76). Laissez-faire leadership, also known as 
delegative leadership, is a type of leadership style in 
which leaders are hands-off and allow group 
members to make the decisions. Researchers have 
found that this is generally the leadership style that 
leads to the lowest productivity among group 
members. 
The laissez-faire leadership style is often credited to 
Kurt Lewin, who is an early contributor to the study 
of social psychology. Although Lewin recognized 
laissez-faire leadership as one of three primary 
management styles, he did not subscribe to it as his 
preferred leadership method. Lewin simply identified 
laissez-faire leadership as the opposite of autocratic 
leadership. This type of leadership could be used in 
the public services when there are some highly skilled 
employees that are already well experienced in their 
jobs (Hampton, 2018: 68). The leader fully trusts his 
group to get on with a specific task and knows that 
they should not need to get involved with it. This is a 
leadership style that could be quite difficult to get 
right because leaders find it difficult not to get 
involved with their group. The group could also find 
it quite difficult under a laissez-faire leadership 
because they would not get that guidance they require 
to be able to grow and develop or they might not be 
set on task and get distracted easier. As such, 
Hampton proposes that this leadership style is most 
often used in the police force when police officers 
reach a high rank, they would not need as much 
leadership as a newly recruited police officer would 
need. They would still need some leadership but it 
would be very minimal because they could get on 
with their job and are perfectly happy with what they 
are doing (2018). The type of leadership they would 
receive would be a basic briefing and told the basic 
requirements of what they need to do and then they 
could be left alone to complete the task before the set 
schedule. It would be unnecessary for a experienced 
police officer to be supervised because they know 
what their job is to do and that they are safe to be able 
to get on with it themselves 
This laissez-faire leadership entails giving managers 
and staff wide latitude in carrying out their 
responsibilities. People who work for laissez-faire 
leaders are responsible for completing tasks and 
identifying issues. Moreover, they are expected to 
anticipate near-term problems and spot upcoming 
opportunities. Laissez-faire leaders usually allow staff 
to capitalize on opportunities without having to check 
in with their superiors. From a laissez-faire leader's 
perspective, the key to success is to build a strong 
team   and then stay out of the way. Laissez-faire is a 
style of leadership that does not require much from 
the leader. For instance, Kacy (2018: 78) advanced 
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that in a police study the team leader chose to use the 
laissez-faire leadership style when briefing their 
senior team because they should already be 
experienced and knowledgable in their job and 
wouldn't need as much guidance as a recruit would. 
According to Kacy, It is the leaders job to motivate 
their team to make sure that after the briefing they 
could be left alone to complete the task to a high 
standard. The leader has to make sure they trust each 
member of the group and that they are capable of 
doing the job without slacking or messing it up. The 
team leader must also make sure the group respect 
them because if they group do not respect the leader 
they would be unlikely to take the tasks set by the 
leader seriously. 
One criticism of the laissez-faire leadership style is 
that it tends to favor success-oriented people rather 
than those who solve society's most pressing 
problems. In other words, laissez-faire leadership 
tends to serve the needs of the people who most 
benefit from it. This can be counterintuitive to the 
objectives of corporate 
responsibility. Other 
management models, like servant leadership, focus on 
good corporate citizenship. The objective is to serve 
the needs of 
customers, 
communities 
and 
disenfranchised groups. 
However, if you look at laissez-faire leadership as a 
management style rather than as an economic 
philosophy, it can be used effectively to initiate 
positive change in the same way that transformative 
and servant leadership styles do. For example, a 
laissez-faire leader who oversees the R&D division 
for a pharmaceutical company or biotech firm may 
surround herself with highly qualified experts charged 
with developing new drugs to treat or cure cancer. A 
team led by a laissez-faire leader does not make the 
manager's objectives any less worthy than a similar 
group led by a democratic or autocratic leader. 
Summarily, the three leadership styles applicable in 
the 
law 
enforcement 
sector 
include 
the 
transformational, transactional (participative) and 
laissez-fair (delegative) leadership styles. Besides, 
various leadership styles and theories influence police 
leadership styles and none is showing a distinct 
advantage over the other (Decker, 2018: 5). Although 
good leaders use all these three styles, one of them is 
normally dominant while bad leaders tend to stick 
with one style. From transformational to situational 
leadership style, each of them has a role and purpose 
in the leadership approach of law enforcement 
executives throughout history.  
Bass & Avolio (2004: 76) used the Multifactor 
Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) which was 
designed to measure seven different leadership 
factors. The first four measuring transformational 
leadership behaviors are identified as the Four I’s and 
include idealized influence (II) (serve as role models 
emphasizing admiration, 
respect 
and 
trust), 
inspirational motivation (IM) (motivate and inspire 
through meaningful 
and challenging work), 
intellectual stimulation (IS) (stimulate followers’ 
efforts toward innovation and creativity by adapting 
and reframing problems), and 
individualized 
consideration (IC) (special attention provided to 
individual follower needs for achievement and growth 
as a coach/mentor). This is followed by two factors 
considered aspects of the transactional leadership 
approach: contingent reward (leaders assigning tasks 
and providing specific rewards in exchange for 
satisfactory completion) and management-by-
exception (a corrective action to address employee 
behavior only when identified and a need exists for 
specific improvement). The last factor measured is 
the laissez-faire style, better known as the concept of 
the absence of leadership and is considered neither 
transformational nor transactional. 
As such, the police departments would presumably 
implement the authoritarian/autocratic leadership due 
to the nature and cultures of the organizations, but 
recent research (Sarver & Miller, 2014; Kapla, 2005: 
221) indicates that a move toward a more 
transformational, 
transactional, and situational 
approaches is taking place. Besides, it appears that 
leadership styles vary amongst various supervisory 
ranks in the police sector; such that a combination of 
these styles is sometimes displayed (Caless 2011: 34) 
and can be more effective in managing corruption in 
the police sector.  
2.1.3. The Guiding Principles Structure for 
Effective Leadership in the Police sector 
The College of Policing Limited (2017) presents nine 
guiding principles structured across three themes for 
effective leadership in the police sector. They include;  
A. Understanding leadership; Current leadership 
capabilities, Future leadership capabilities and 
Setting direction 
B. Developing leadership; Performance, Learning 
and development and Talent 
C. Displaying leadership; Morale and wellbeing, 
Innovation and Diverse leadership teams. 
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Source: UK College of Policing (2017: 81) 
Figure 1: Guiding Principles for Organisational Leadership
As seen on Figure 1, College of Policing (2017: 43), 
leadership effectiveness embodies three aspects; 
understanding, developing and displaying leadership; 
as expounded below.  
2.1.3.1. 
Understanding Leadership;  
Being the first principle of leadership effectiveness, 
understanding leadership can be obtained in three 
different ways; examining the current leadership 
capabilities, future leadership opportunities then 
setting direction. 
Current Leadership Capabilities:  
Leadership effectiveness can only be enhanced if 
police leaders have a comprehensive and up-to-date 
knowledge of leadership capability within the force. 
This requires that senior leaders should have a clear 
understanding of expected leadership capabilities 
(UK College of Policing, 2017). For example, by 
benchmarking against national standards and data. 
Also, senior leaders should ensure that there are fair 
and effective systems for gathering data on leadership 
strengths and development needs at each rank and 
grade. These systems include using psychometric and 
360° tools at an individual level, and staff survey data 
at a team and organisational level and performance 
measures which will consider both quantitative and 
qualitative data.  
Senior forces should equally use data about 
leadership capability to improve organisational, team 
and individual performance (Arets, Jennings, and 
Heijnen, 2015: 65). This includes making decisions 
about appointments to all leadership positions and 
placing officers and staff across the force. Those 
leaders should act as role models and should be 
visible and accessible at all levels, allowing them to 
share and promote good leadership practice. More 
advanced 
forces will 
have a number of 
complementary approaches to developing their 
understanding of force leadership capability. These 
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approaches can include collaborating to encourage 
and build understanding of what works’ in developing 
leadership capability. As such, leaders in the police 
sector should plan and assess ways to develop 
personal, professional and business skills, creating a 
learning culture in the force. 
Future Leadership Capabilities 
This requires that leaders in the police forces should 
plan for future needs. That is, forces should have the 
right skills and knowledge in place to lead beyond 
organisational boundaries and traditional hierarchies. 
They should have access to development activities 
and business improvement models that provide access 
to opportunities with partners and wider cross-sector 
group (UK College of Policing, 2017: 67). This 
collaboration will develop the leadership capacity of 
the whole organisation and improve the skills of 
leaders operating in complex networks. The College 
of Policing will support this approach by developing a 
new model for 
leadership development and 
management training.  
Also, a new leadership development model based on 
a concept of 70:20:10 learning and development 
(Arets, Jennings and Heijnen 2015: 43), emphasises 
learning on the job’ rather than through classroom-
based programme attendance. That is, development 
activities could help prepare police forces to 
anticipate the effect of new technology on their work 
and utilise new systems to their advantage. Activities 
could also develop knowledge of ethical leadership 
approaches, which allows 
the workforce 
to 
understand their strengths and weaknesses, and helps 
senior leaders demonstrate that they welcome 
challenge. Working with other forces and cross-sector 
partners can improve insight into future planning 
needs. Wider partnership working will require skills 
of influence and persuasion as well as skills in 
building and maintaining relationship. 
Setting Direction 
This aspect of understanding leadership requires that 
forces in the police sector should set a positive, 
ambitious and realistic future direction that is 
supported by a clearly defined vision and 
underpinned by the Code of Ethics. That is, senior 
leaders should set future direction in collaboration 
with stakeholders, including the public, in line with 
the strategic priorities of the police and crime 
commissioner, and ensure that these are translated 
into a strongly shared common purpose across and 
beyond the force (Rossett and Schafer, 2007: 176). 
There is also need for officers and staff to feel 
inspired in being part of this future direction and 
understand the part it plays. In order for forces to  
 
meet future challenges, some approaches should be 
consistently implemented and evaluated across the 
whole of the police service. 
For instance, the values articulated in the Code of 
Ethics should be evident in every force; that is, in 
recruitment, selection and promotion processes, 
reflecting a fair and transparent approach. This might 
include involving other non-policing partners in 
selection processes. A shared understanding of the 
future direction will clearly link to expectations of 
actions, behaviours and values at all ranks and grades. 
Forces should also have effective ways to provide 
challenge, enabling views and opinions to be freely 
fed upwards with evidence of action.  
2.1.3.2. 
Developing Leadership 
This is the second guiding principle; which is further 
subdivided into three aspects: performance, learning 
and development and talent as explained below. 
➢ Performance  
Leaders in the police force should have a strong ethos 
of personal improvement with individuals taking 
personal responsibility for their own continuing 
professional development and senior leaders being 
role models. Since leaders have an important 
responsibility in being role models for improvement, 
setting and displaying the right standards of 
behaviour across the force; they should show how 
their Continuing Professional Development reflects 
and will benefit the future needs of the force (Arets, 
Jennings and Heijnen, 2015: 54). A strong ethos of 
improvement should exist as part of a healthy 
organisational culture, with well-defined and well-
implemented development processes at each rank and 
grade. Also, forces should recognise that improved 
leadership performance can also lead to improved 
organisational performance. They should have a clear 
method to classify and assess performance, role 
requirements and personal qualities, consistent with 
force objectives, future direction and leadership 
culture. This method could include the new 
competency and values framework (College of 
policing, 2017: 67). 
Most importantly, leaders in the police force should 
move away from a target-driven culture to a more 
qualitative model which allows individuals to use 
their discretion, while drawing on an evidence base of 
what works’. They should prioritise meeting the 
needs of the public over purely numerical targets. As 
such, they should be able to exhibit evidence of 
holding regular meetings at all levels to discuss 
progress towards individual performance objectives 
and the added value this approach has bought. 
  
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3. METHODOLOGY AND DESCRIPTION 
OF THE STUDY AREA 
This study investigated the relationship between 
leadership styles and corruption in the Buea police 
force; using the perception of both police officers and 
police leaders. This research was designed as a case 
study survey as the data was collected only in the 
Buea Police force. 
This chapter presents the methodology of the study 
and vividly describes the study area, the research 
approach, 
research design, population, 
target 
population, sample and sampling techniques, sampling 
frame, method of data collection, method of data 
presentation, method of data analysis, validity and 
reliability of instruments, and ethical considerations. 
3.1. Background and study area 
Police refers to a body of officers representing the 
civil authority of government. Police typically are 
responsible for maintaining public order and safety, 
enforcing the law, and preventing, detecting, and 
investigating criminal activities. The word police has 
meaning attached to each of its letters as:  
P – polite 
O – obedience 
L – loyal 
I – intelligence 
C – consensus or consciousness 
E – endurance 
Meaning the main duty of a police protection of 
people, property and their institutions. These 
functions are known as policing. Police are often also 
entrusted with various licensing and regulatory 
activities. 
There is a remarkable historical, geographic, and 
organizational diversity in the activities of people 
who are, or have been, defined as police. Police work 
has developed considerably from what it was 
centuries ago (Banton, Walsh and Brodeur, 2021: 4). 
As populations grew and informal institutions of 
socialization and social control such as the family, 
schools, and the church decreased in effectiveness, 
police became increasingly necessary. However, no 
uniform worldwide system of policing ever emerged. 
Numerous factors help to explain the diversity of 
police activities and systems. The types of crime 
typically committed in a society and the methods used 
by criminals play a great part in determining a police 
forces activities. For instance, if criminals use 
firearms, the police are likely to be armed, or if 
criminals use computers to commit crimes, the police 
may establish a special unit dedicated to investigating 
cybercrimes. History also helps to explain this 
diversity; e.g., former colonies tend to keep the 
policing system established by their colonizers. 
Population plays an important role as well; policing 
rural areas and villages vastly differs from policing 
large cities. Foremost among the factors that 
determine a countrys system of policing, however, are 
the political culture of the society e.g., whether it is 
open and democratic or closed and totalitarian and the 
states conception of police accountability. 
The Buea police force refers to the civil force 
responsible for the prevention and detection of crime 
and the maintenance of public order in Buea. There 
are 7 police checkpoints in Buea municipality, 
namely: Misselele checkpoint, Mile 14 checkpoint, 
Mile 16 checkpoint, Muea check point, Tole 1 
Checkpoint, Tole 2 checkpoint and Mile 4 (Limbe 
entrance). Some checkpoints can be created 
depending on the situation. 
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Source: Kimengsi J.N., (2016). Spatial Service Accessibility and livelihood implications in Secondary 
Towns of Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Buea, Cameroon. Research Gate publication at: 
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301202319. 
Police Ranking in Cameroon  
There are four major grades in the police corp 
1. Grade of Constables (GPx) which is written with first school leaving certificate 
2. Police inspectors (IPx) which requires ordinary level certificate 
3. Assistant superintendent of police (OPx) which requires advanced level certification 
4. Superintendent of police (PC) which a bachelors degree 
Grade of Constables 
This is the first-grade for police constables (cpx) and it is obtained with Two white V (newly graduated). After 
three years, the person is upgraded with 2nd grade police constable major grade (Two white v and 1 yellow v 
(cp2). After 3 years again, the person is upgraded to 3rd grade constable or senior police constable better known 
in the French acronym as guardian Paix Principale to the post of 3 yellow v (cpp). Thus it requires a police 
constable 9 years to love to the rank of a police inspector.  
Then the Inspectors of police with 1 silver star (ip), first grade police inspector better known in the French 
acronym as Inspector de Premiere Grade. After 4 years he/she is awarded 2 silver stars, (ip2) second grade police 
inspector principal 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
D4 regional division of health  
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Organizational Setup of Buea Police Force 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.2. Model Specification 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 2 The influence of Leadership Styles on Corruption in the Police Sector in Buea, Fako Division 
of the S.W. Region 
This section presents a structure of the research variables; given that the study seeks to study the influence of 
leadership styles on corruption in the police sector in Buea. Emphasis would be on the three independent 
variables representing police managers’ leadership styles: transformational, transactional and laissez-faire and 
the dependent variables corruption. 
3.3. Research Approach and Design 
The research adopted a descriptive survey research design with the intention of gathering enough evidence from 
the state of affairs. According to Ndue (2017:87), the descriptive survey is a method of collecting information by 
interviewing or administering a questionnaire to a sample of individuals.. It presented opinions of respondents 
upon which generalization could be made. This study adopted both a qualitative and quantitative research 
approach. The triangulation approach embodied different study population (police officers and police leaders) and 
data collection instruments (questionnaire and interview guide); in order to obtain robust findings pertaining to the 
study. 
3.4. Population and Target Population 
The population of the study consisted of police officers of Buea Police sector and commercial moto drivers 
operating in the Mile 17 Moto Park. The target population were Police officers in 4 police posts in the Buea 
Police sector (Buea town, GMI, Central Police and Muea). 
3.5. 
Sample and Sampling Technique  
A sample of 250 police officers was selected using the random sampling technique and 5driversof different 
driving categories (Taxi and bus drivers) and were selected purposefully for the interview. Due to the 
Regional delegation 
H1: The transformational 
leadership style 
H2: The transactional 
leadership style 
 
H4: The measures to 
be implemented 
H3: The laissez-faire 
leadership style 
Bureaucratic 
Corruption in the 
Police Department 
Assistant regional delegate 
divisions 
Central police 
General Intelligence 
Regional division of control of service 
D1 DRG division de 
ranseiqnement geneteu X 
(division for general 
intelligence) 
 
 
D3 regional division of judicial 
police 
D2 DRSP division regional de 
la securite publique (regioal 
division for public security) 
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participatory approval needed to conduct this study, the sample was selected using non-probability technique; 
precisely the convenience sampling technique. The convenience sampling allows a researcher to investigate all 
subjects who are available at the time of the study and show interest in the study (Ndue, 2017:103). Doing so 
allowed each officer in the participating agencies the same opportunity to complete the survey and it was expected 
to yield higher levels of participation than random sampling, in which participation is completely optional for all 
potential participants. The total number ofpolice officers in each police department under study varies from 50 to 
100, and the total number of police officers surveyed was 250. 
3.6. Construction of Instrument for Data Collection 
The data collection instrument used was a structured questionnaire and an interview guide. A questionnaire was 
preferable because structured questionnaires are extremely flexible and could be used to gather information 
concerning almost any topic, from a larger or small number of people like the police officers in Buea. Also, 
according to Fowler (1993), closed-ended questions are better waysto avoid respondents’ biases related to their 
different perceptions. Additionally, hestates that preparing closed-ended question enable each respondents with 
the same perceptions related to the questions. 
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ, Form 5X). 
Police officers’ opinions on their leaders’ leadership styles by adopting and modifying Bass and Avolios (2000) 
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ, Form 5X). leadership practices are measured by one scale with 13 
questions in the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ, Form 5X). This included an examination and 
analysis of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), which is a leadership style instrument that was 
developed by Bass (1985). The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was described to measure three 
different types of leadership qualities (transformational, transactional, and laisse-faire) with each displaying its 
own distinct qualities. The three types of leadership described here comprise what Bass and Riggio (2006) call 
the Full Range Leadership (FRL) model (Kieres, 2012). This instrument was later modified and adopted by 
Tombul (2011) to measure the leadership styles (transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership 
styles) in the police sector.  
Besides, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X (MLQ-5X) was developed with the specific purpose of 
measuring effective leadership in military, government, educational, religious, service, and volunteer 
organizations (Bass & Avolio, 2000). As such, several studies within law enforcement have been conducted 
utilizing the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X survey, as it has been deemed a valid and reliable 
measurement tool. This questions examined respondents’ views; using a Five-point scale of Strongly Agree (5), 
Agree (4), Uncertain or Neutral (3), Disagree (2) Strongly Disagree (1). 
The questionnaires were divided into four sections. Section A collected basic demographic information 
regarding the respondents such as gender, age, level of education; Section B collected information on the issues 
tested. Section B comprised closed-ended questions on the transformational leadership style of police managers, 
transactional leadership style of police managers and laissez-faire leadership style of police managers; using a 
(1) Strongly Disagree, (2) Disagree, (3) Neutral, (4) Agree (5) Strongly Agree. The respondents were asked to 
indicate the extent to which they agreed/disagreed with various statements raised regarding the characteristics of 
the various leadership styles exhibited in the Police sector in Buea; as Cain (2017:65) posits that these leadership 
styles are critical to all law enforcement departments.  
Questionnaires were earlier designed and pretested to see whether they can collect the necessary data to achieve 
the pre-determined objectives of the study. Meanwhile the instruments were set in simple English and French 
languages given that although Buea is an English base area, police officers from French parts of the country are 
equally posted in this area. This language was clear to ensure that any ordinary law enforcement officer could 
answer without any confusion.  
3.7. 
Interview Guide  
The interview guide was equally employed because of the necessity to gather more in-depth views of drivers 
who are deemed to be closely related to the police especially on daily basis. Interviews provide contexts where 
drivers could explain their experiences pertaining to the state of police corruption in the area viz a viz their 
relations with them on daily basis. They were asked to, elaborate on ideas, and explain perspectives in their own 
words (Kendall, 2008). This qualitative tool was used to obtain expanded opinions on the experiences of this 
group of people as a representative of the state of corruption from police officers and how it is linked to their 
leadership. The interview guide was self-developed from the literature review. Both results were found to 
constitute robust findings for this study.