CAMPOST staff strike over non-payment of social benefits

Employees of the Cameroon Postal Services (Campost), the public postal company, have gone on an indefinite strike action since Monday, March 9, 2015.

The staff explained the cause of their strike action as their way of demanding their social rights that stems from April 2004, to the current Campost following the merge between the former postal savings bank (CEP) and the national post (Sonaposte) Corporation.

On the list of the claims of Cameroon postal workers, was also the reconstitution of temporary staff who had been recruited several years ago, but whose status have remained stagnant. Also on the list was the non- payment of social benefits of officers for the past two years.

Among an array of businesses that do not pay social benefits to their employees trained in 2014 by the national social insurance fund (CNPS), the Campost records unpaid benefits of more than 400 million Cfa francs.

As a reminder, Campost has been managed by a team of Sofrepost, a subsidiary of the French Post Office since 2010, following a technical assistance contract signed with the Government of Cameroon.

This arrival of Sofrepost at the head of Campost was preceded by another contract of management with the Canadian firm Tecsult International, who completed her 2 year lease at the Campost leaving a debt of 2.2 billion Cfa francs in cash.

Though Sofrepost team helped the Cameroonian postal company to regain financial balance (savings 850 000 accounts and 56 700 accounts managed in its portfolio to end 2013) and deploy new activities, the financial management of the enterprise have not been smooth.

Indeed, between 2011 and November 2013, a reliable sources revealed that there was a network of fraudsters inside the company, led by a certain Jean Jacques Zé, who helped them to divert approximately 4 billion Cfa francs by fraudulent transfers.