OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON:

Part 3:

Third crisis: The Financial Situation of Cameroon

Mr. President, the recent actions on your part leave us with perplexity and uncertainty as regards the finances of Cameroon. As you should know, the perception of financial uncertainty is catastrophic for the achievement of our common objective of growing the economy of Cameroon and creating jobs. Investors, be they local or international do not put their money into economies where the financial future is uncertain. In this regard, we demand that you take the following key actions and respond to the following questions. Should it be necessary, we remind here that the money in question belongs to Cameroonians.

We need and deserve a public meeting on finances. Your government creates expenses and contracts debts outside of the budgetary process. As such it has become virtually impossible for us as Cameroonians to know the exact state of our finances. This is unacceptable. Kindly convene, or ask your Ministers of Finance and the Economy to convene a public meeting on our national finances that will provide clarity as to the exact financial situation of Cameroon. During this public meeting, the following questions should be answered:

1. What is, to date, the state of Cameroon’s finances in term of revenue, expenses and debt?

2. What justifies our sharp increase in indebtedness over the last 5 years? Though we clearly understand falling oil prices and increased budgets for military expenditure, we need precise information regarding:
a) The use of reserves established when oil prices were high
b) The exact budget for military expenditures
c) The justification for incurring debt for non-productive assets such as computers
d) The justification for creating emergency plans in the middle of the fiscal year, without reference to the national assembly and for problems which were known before the assembly budgetary session
e) The justification for non-reduction of government expenses despite revenues and growth that have been declining for the past 3 years.

3. Government seems to have continuous cash flow issues resulting in delayed payments for government suppliers and late disbursements for investment projects. What is the cause of this? Government being one of Cameroon’s most important economic actors, delays in disbursement slow down the entire economy. We need an explanation for why this cannot be remedied, year after year.

4. Your government has put itself in a position to contract debt from the IMF. The objectives of this debt are cited as “enhancing Cameroon’s competitiveness and medium-term growth potential”. Mr. President, these are laudable objectives. However, your government contracted its first IMF loan in 1997, in 2000 you subjected us to the Highly indebted Poor Country program, in 2017 you have once again contracted an IMF loan. All these loans have the same objectives cited above. From 1997 to date, poverty has stagnated at about 40% in Cameroon, health and education services have decreased in quality and you have been incapable of translating GNP growth into jobs and income for Cameroonians. Mr. President, what do you and your government intend to do differently this time around? What measures will be taken so that this debt which Cameroonians will be paying long after you, is beneficial to us as citizens.

5. In June 2017, you provided budget directives to your government for the 2018 national budget. In these directives, you made no mention of the organization of elections. There are four elections on Cameroon’s electoral calendar for 2018. Mr. President, are you once again playing games with the lives and the future of the 23 million Cameroonians you say we are? Do you intend to hold surprise elections? Not to hold them at all?

The Time is Now for you, Mr President, to take the most important action of your long mandate !

Closing

Mr. President, the Cameroon People’s Party believes that your government is completely overwhelmed and today, causes more problems than it can resolve. For the Cameroon People’s Party, these crises are the demonstration that the solution for Cameroon today is that of a Political Transition. Our country needs to carry out objective, in depth analysis of our situation as a nation, then rebuild and redefine the very foundation of what binds us together as a people. We need institutions and systems that will enable us to build the future of a Cameroon that is Leading the Way, in Africa and throughout the world

The urgent actions we have demanded above require your attention within the next 2-3 weeks. Great would be our surprise and relief if you could actually take action in within that time frame.

This immediate, expedient and efficient action is what Cameroon needs to avoid further catastrophes for its citizens. Should you be unable to carry it out, it would be time Mr. President to take the single most important action, that of resigning to enable Cameroon to enter into its Political Transition and build its future.

In the utmost interest of our beloved nation,

Douala, July 26, 2017.

Kah Walla
National President,
Cameroon People’s Party