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Cameroon and Nigeria will henceforth be connected by a submarine cable with a capacity of 40GB stationed in Limbe in the South West region and a powerful ACE center in Kribi in the South region. The Fiber Optic that will reportedly connect the two capital cities, Yaounde and Abuja will cost 35 million US dollars with 18 million already given as donation by the Peoples Republic of China through Exim Bank. Cameroon Concord was reliably informed at the time of writing this report that the remaining 17 million dollars is expected to come from the Cameroon government through the Special Fund for Telecommunications. 

The objective of the new project is to provide Cameroonians with qualitative and quantitative telecommunication services while improving the international transmission capacity of all electronic communication operators in Cameroon and curb the saturation landing point referred to as Sat-3 in Douala. The cable will also improve connectivity between Cameroon and the entire African region and even Europe where the main major Internet nodes are located.

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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Aug.2015

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To secure its customers against suicide attacks throughout the national territory, the security services of the Cameroon Railways Company, Camrail has implemented new measures based on international standards, Cameroon Concord has learned. Camrail which is a subsidiary of Bolloré Africa Logistics adopted the counter-terrorism measures following the first suicide bomb attacks on Cameroonian soil.  

Apart from the regular search of passengers, there is now a detachment of the Cameroon police force in every train station in the country that controls national identity cards, residence permits and other valid travelling documents for foreigners. The use of metal detectors have also been welcomed by users some of who told Cameroon Concord that it is the price to pay for security.

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Ngwa Bertrand

29.Jul.2015

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A surplus FCFA 1.8 billion was mobilised by the Customs Department in the first six months of 2015.The Directorate General of Customs can pride itself of crediting the State coffers with a surplus FCFA 1.8 billion for the first quarter of the 2015 fiscal year. Information from the department reveals that FCFA 347.9 billion is the amount raised as against the projected FCFA 345.8 billion, giving an achievement rate of 101 per cent. The FCFA 347.9 billion recorded as at June 30, 2015 represents an increase in performance by 6 per cent as against FCFA 328.1 billion in 2014 whereby FCFA 319.9 billion was earmarked for mobilisation.

The Directorate General of Customs under the helm of Minette Libom Li Likeng however notes that the amount mobilized is void of the FCFA 19.4 billion that was expected to be collected as revenue from government departments benefitting from deductions at source. The challenge is therefore for customs to redouble efforts with the National Oil Refinery, SONARA, as one of the targets where uncollected customs revenue is evaluated at FCFA 13.7 billion. The Directorate General of Customs however regrets an accumulated debt of FCFA 33.1 billion from the company which according to the Director General of Customs could catapult the institution to an exceptional performance if the amount was duly collected. Notwithstanding, Minette Libom Li Likeng, Director General notes that; “We will not be satisfied with this performance.” She and her team vowed to do better in the second half of the year to sustain the achievements and why not surpass the annual revenue target of FCFA 693 billion as in the 2015 Finance Law, with an increase of FCFA 55 billion from 2014. 

The stakes are high with the Cameroon Customs into new development reforms. Refinancing the National Oil Refinery and implementing the three-year contingency plan obliged government to secure loans worth over FCFA 900 billion. The Customs Department, according to its Director General, has as task the efficient collection of duties. The exercise has however met with doom in the northern and eastern part of the country where insecurity persists. The Boko Haram insurgencies in the Far North as well as attacks in the East Central African Republic are hitting hard on the Directorate General as it longs to mobilize resources for the State coffers. The situation is serious with some units with high potential in both regions either closed or in drastic decline in terms of revenue mobilisation for over two years now. This is notably the case with Major Customs Offices in Fotokol Limani in the Far North and Primary Customs Offices in Kentzou and Garoua Boulai in the East Region. Government efforts to turn the tides are paying off with over FCFA 18 million collected as customs duties at the Boukoula Customs Post in the Far North as against less than FCFA 5 million by May last year.

Combining human and material efforts is the way forward. The tutelage of the Directorate General of Customs, the Ministry of Finance, is looking at ways of partnering with the Ministry of Defence for the use of its Marine Services. The agreement once signed will permit the Marine Services of the defence corps to use their equipment and expertise to fight maritime fraud and the influx of contraband goods into the country. 2015 is a year of “Customs Surveillance” in Cameroon. Thus, The World Customs Organisation has challenged Cameroon’s Directorate General of Customs to liaise with other stakeholders for optimal results. “Signing agreements with other stakeholders is therefore one of the strategies to uphold and improve the management of goods at seaports, airports and borders,” Minette Libom Li Likeng, told the press in Yaounde on May 31, 2015 during the quarterly evaluation meeting of central and devolved services of the Directorate General of Customs.

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Ngwa Bertrand

27.Jul.2015

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The trial continued at the Yaounde Special Criminal Court, SCC, on Tuesday, July 21, 2015, in the embezzlement case involving the former General Manager of the National Oil Refinery, SONARA and three other accused people. Tuesday’s sitting saw Charles Metouck take to the witness box for Examination-in-Chief by one of his counsel to defend his tenure at SONARA. Presiding was the President of SCC, Mr. Justice Yap Abdou, alongside Justices Nyassa Luc and Nina Galina, with Mrs. Justice Siewe Yvette as Advocate General. Responding to questions by the lawyer, Metouck introduced himself as a 65-year-old chemical engineer, then revisited the history of the creation of SONARA and its strategic importance to the economy. He said at the time of his appointment as General Manager of the National Oil Refinery on September 10, 2002, the company had some social challenges with strikes. By the time he was replaced on February 15, 2013, SONARA was the leading company in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa, he claimed.

Questioned on the charges of embezzling over 216,000 US Dollars in complicity with three others and FCFA 406 million alone, he focused his response on the former charge. He said the amount was interest accruing from the supply of three shipments of crude oil to SONARA in 2009. Charles Metouck explained the mechanism for paying for supplied crude oil, pointing out that the three shipments received from Viking were settled through nine bank transfers – two each for the first two shipments and five for the third. The former SONARA GM insisted that the transfers were made within the agreed timeframe, though Viking argued that there was default, threatening to take the matter to court. But the matter was amicably settled, with payments made. As at the time of leaving court, Charles Metouck was still continuing with his testimony. 

Charles Metouck and former SONARA staffers, Ngalle Mouelle Noé, Edinguele Edinguele Jean Joule and Dikoume Albert Léonard, stand accused of aiding and abetting the embezzlement of over FCFA 108 million. The amount was reportedly fraudulently retained from the signing by SONARA of a contract with a private company. Meanwhile, over FCFA 406 million, being taxes due to the State, was allegedly fraudulently retained by Metouck alone. The other accused, Tiako Etienne, was let off the hook on April 22, 2015 after paying the amount he was accused of embezzling.

 

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Ngwa Bertrand

23.Jul.2015

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The administrative and political divide that has erupted between the Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey and Minette Libom Li Likeng, Cameroon's Director of Customs has shattered the functioning of both government departments. Some reports say 65 graduates from the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) who were supposed to work at the Customs sector still do not know their future as Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey had long suspended the signature of Minette Libom  for non-compliance with procedures. 

Recruited on November the 12th 2014 by the Public Service, the 65 graduates of the National School of Administration and Magistracy were made available to the Directorate General of Customs who reportedly made major appointments involving some of the 65 without consulting the minister. The Minette appointments raised the wrath of the Minister of Finance who publicly reminded the custom boss that it was not within the competence of the Director General of Customs to make such appointments. Nothing can best represent the end of a regime than the fact that laws are no longer being respected by highly placed government officials. Our source revealed that the 65 students may end up back on the streets if the presidency of the republic fails to step into the matter.

Our chief political correspondent who contributed to this report observed that Paul Biya now runs a country where no one takes responsibility, no one apologize and no one resigns.

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Ngwa Bertrand

23.Jul.2015

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The Hilton Hotel in Yaoundé has began searching for a competent individual to be its new general manager. Reports have suggested that the former general manager Rolland Muntzer left for holiday and has failed to resume duty after 5 months. 

It is now an open secret that Simon Vincent, Executive Vice-President and President of Hilton Group for Africa and Middle East arrived Cameroon since last Monday to find a new general manager.

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Ngwa Bertrand

23.Jul.2015

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