Invisible hands block appointments at MINFI

While some sources suspect that the finance minister, Alamine Ousmane Mey condones the state of affairs at his ministry and is doing everything to maintain the status quo, others contend that he is overly worried at the situation, but is helpless in the face of it.

In fact, we learnt that the appointments that were proposed by Alamine Ousmane Mey to the ministry over a year ago have been blocked by some powerful officials at the presidency, who have abandoned the files in the drawers just in a bid to maintain their protégés and acolytes in juicy positions.

The public finance sector of Cameroon for the past several months now has not run as it is supposed to. The Median has learnt that a general malaise has gripped the major departments of the Ministry of Finance MINFI viz-customs, taxation and treasury. This is because appointments that were supposed to have been made since over one year now are still pending.

Sources at the ministry in Yaounde say despite the putting in place of a new organigram and in spite of proposed appointments that were made by the minister many months ago and sent to hierarchy, there has been no redeployment of personnel for close to two years now.

Our sources however admitted that some minor deployments were made recently, but they concerned mostly the deconcentrated services at the regions. Then there were some movements at the Directorate of Taxes, towards the close of 2013 and at the start of 2014. But overall, the big appointments that are expected for many months now are still lying fallow in the drawers of some overlords at the presidency.

Because of this, some people who were appointed in the interim at certain strategic positions at the MINFI are still waiting to be confirmed, we learnt.

But the situation which appears more worrisome and very vexing is the occupation of some very strategic posts by people who are supposed to be on retirement. A local tabloid reported recently that over 88 strategic posts at MINFI are occupied by people who have gone passed the retirement age for public servants; people who were supposed to have since retired, but who have been elected to stay in the system, with the protection of their mentors at the Prime Ministers Office and the Presidency.

We learnt that some of these people are directors, sub-directors, heads of divisions, finance controllers, accounting agents etc . And because some of these supposedly retired people owe little or no allegiance to the minister, they come to work when they like and leave when they like. In fact we are told that some of these persons stay away from work for weeks, and files that are supposed to be addressed are keptuntil they return.

Some workers at MINFI lamented that this situation is prevailing at the ministry in spite of the fact that fresh and very enthusiastic graduates from ENAM and some who were recruited under the “operation 25,000 jobs”, are idling and parading the busy corridors of the ministry, under the guise that they are still in ‘complement d’effectif’, whatever that means.

Because of the evident inertia and red-tape, we hear that some people have held the same positions for over 10 years, while others especially those in deconcentrated services in the divisions and sub-divisions have remained en poste for over 16 years running.

The resultant effect of all this is heightened demotivation, mitigated performance, routine, and of course, unbridled corruption and embezzlement.

While some sources contend that the minister is very worried about the vexing situation, they feel helpless in the face of it, others say Alamine Ousmane Mey enjoys the status-quo and is getting along with it, as he did not bring it about in the first place.

Another dependable source at the MINFI also told The Median that the minister has since proposed his list of appointments to hierarchy. But that some power barons at the prime minister’s office and the presidency have 'sat' on these appointments, just in a bid to protect their acolytes and protégés, and not bothering whether work is stifled or not at the MINFI.

Another opinion reckons that the apparently commendable performance of the customs and taxation departments in the first and second semesters of 2014 might have caused the authorities to put the appointments on hold for another season. But for how long will officials continue to wait? The authorities should not forget the adage that: “When a finger stays too long in the anus it is likely to come out with some excreta.”