Nkendem Forbinake
10 March 2008
Two weeks after the turbulence that could only be compared to the « Operation Ghost Towns » of the early 1990s, now of inglorious fame, many Cameroonians spent the weekend with new-found smiles on their faces.
President Biya signed several executive orders which will go a long way to address many of the grievances they have been crying over and which some political apprentice-sorcerers wanted to hang on to plant terror and civil strife in the country late last month.
A 15 per cent increase was ordered in the pay of all state employees while housing allowances were taken up to 20 per cent of basic salaries. In a clear attempt to pre-empt any wild-cat price escalations and to contain inflation, the President also ordered wide-ranging measure to give consumers easier access to essential consumption items such as rice, cooking oil, sugar and the like. To encourage the construction of personal homes, special measures were also put in place to reduce the buying price of cement.
There has, of course, been a lot of clamour for visible measures to stem the rising cost of living, marked by a stagnation or freezing of civil service wages for the past 25 years. Many objective reasons exist to justify the holding down of wages, least of which is not the fact that Cameroon is in an economic restructuring deal with the Bretton Woods institutions and the fact that an escalation in the price of basic commodities is a world-wide phenomenon and not an exclusively Cameroonian problem. But in this difficult setting, the President of the Republic has never reneged in his concern over the welfare of Cameroonians, especially those of the lower income bracket. He has made very pointed prescriptions to government on the necessity of holding down costs and making live less stressful for citizens. Latest instances are his statement at a cabinet meeting of September 12, 2007; his state-of-the nation address of December 31, 2007 and the very emphatic appeal to the same government last Friday. The decisions taken last Friday might have come after the public display of frustration, but one must be honest enough, to recognize that they were already on course. President Biya took a very specific commitment on December 31, 2007 when he talked of "the possibility of improving the purchasing power of Cameroonians in the coming months". . Four months after the President's promise, it is right, reasonable and safe to say that the President has remained consistent and faithful to his promises.
At first sight, the most striking of the measures is the decision to raise salaries. But at a closer look, the presidential decision will affect a broader spectrum of beneficiaries, in an all out mobilization of efforts to reduce the cost of living.
Take businessmen and traders. In the interim, the burden of several taxes is being taken away from them so that they can eventually sell to ordinary consumers at lower prices rates. They are also being encouraged, through tax relief measures, to massively import essential commodities so that markets are constantly supplied with these commodities in a manner as to leave the determination of prices solely on demand-and-supply rules and, by this token, avoid a situation where, because of a shortage of supply, heartless traders hoard goods and create an artificial scarcity so as to raise prices. Although licences are being given to businessmen to import cement, the need to protect the lone cement manufacturer, CIMENCAM, did not escape the President's thoughts for, it is a Cameroonian company which provides jobs for thousands of Cameroonians. On the contrary, measures are being taken to ease the acquisition of some essential raw materials, necessary for the production of cement, by CIMENCAM.
The introduction of price controls in these measures may appear as an aberration in a free-market economic context which is Cameroon's today. But this initiative must be seen as providing a watchdog so that the structures put in place do not fall like a pile of cards and, consequently, annul these salutary measures taken to stem the rising cost of living.
The presidential measures bring along brighter times for all stake-holders - businessmen, civil servants and ordinary citizens. Like a domino, none of these actors can afford to stay out of this deal. Otherwise, the whole edifice crashes to the ground.
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The author of this article "Brighter Times For All", Mr. Nkendem Forbinake, is (putting it quite mildly) living on another planet!You cannot sell your goods after the market-day indeed.The President's actions to increase salaries etc, are nothing but a sham, and should be treated with the contempt it deserves. Needless to say that,he will still NOT be allowed to tweak the constitution in his favour despite these crumbs he has thrown at the feet of my countrymen. I am very proud of the Cameroonian populace for once after their actions of 2weeks ago and hope that come 2011, we will be voting for a NEW head of state. Someone who has the wisdom to know what is right, the Will to chose it, and the Strength to make it endure.
Has Biya by this reaction confirmed that the poeple had a genuine reason for the strike and that it was not manipulation by any of what he terned sorcerers. Cameroonians should accept this without any thanks and remain wise.This looks like bribery in the largest sphere ever. This man is very very inconsistent.