The Ministry of Secondary Education in Cameroon is facing a large-scale scandal. Recent revelations indicate that 3,442 teachers, who have abandoned their posts to settle abroad, continue to receive their salaries, drawn directly from the state budget. Minister Nalova Lyonga has released the list of those concerned, the result of a control operation initiated by the Ministry of Finance.
The investigation, which cross-referenced payroll data with border exit records, has highlighted a large-scale fraudulent practice. The Ministry of Finance estimates that nearly 5,000 teachers may be involved in this abandonment of posts. The preferred destinations for these civil servants seeking a better life are notably Canada, where they retain their Cameroonian salary as a form of income, while many classrooms remain without teachers in Cameroon.
Minister Nalova Lyonga has appealed to expatriate teachers, urging them to give up their positions and salaries to those present in the country. This operation is part of a broader purge aimed at cleaning up the Cameroonian civil service. In total, nearly 20,000 public agents are threatened with suspension of salary for abandoning their posts, representing an estimated annual loss of 46 billion FCFA for the Public Treasury.
Cross-referencing payroll files with migration data proves to be an effective method for tracking these ghost civil servants. While Nalova Lyonga plans to petition the Prime Minister for a massive replacement recruitment, the question remains as to the sustainability of this purge and the ability of fraudsters to find new loopholes.
These revelations highlight the persistent challenges related to the management of human and financial resources within the Cameroonian civil service. The fight against fraud and the optimization of public spending remain major issues to ensure equitable and sustainable development of the country.
