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Cameroon: After Constitutional Amendment, MPs Rewarded With Colossal Allowances
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The Post (Buea)
18 April 2008
Posted to the web 18 April 2008
Kini Nsom
Only two days after the CPDM parliamentary majority voted massively for the controversial constitutional amendment that delimits the number of presidential mandates in Cameroon, the National Assembly Bureau, April 12, took a decision granting MPs huge allowances.
Presided at by the House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, the meeting took place at the Ngom Jua Hall on the second floor of the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House.
Following the upsurge of protests, the meeting instituted session allowance of FCFA 1.2 million to MPs who are not members of the Bureau. Given that there are three ordinary sessions of the National Assembly a year, the MPs are expected to bag FCFA 3.6 million from session allowances.
Many MPs The Post talked to, saluted the decision as a move taken to bridge the yawning financial gap between members of the Bureau of the National Assembly and ordinary MPs.
The ordinary MPs and their Bureau counterparts were at daggers drawn when the authorities of the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House instituted huge car allowances to members of the Bureau last year.
While ordinary MPs were given only a car loan of FCFA 8 million, members of the Bureau had larger sums.In this perspective, the House Speaker takes home a car allowance of FCFA 60 million, while the First Vice President has FCFA 50 million. The five Vice Presidents have FCFA 40 million car allowance each.
The questors bag FCFA 40 million while the 12 secretaries have FCFA 35 million each. Thus, the Bureau of the National Assembly will be taking home close to a billion FCFA, precisely FCFA 8.90 million as car allowances every mandate of five years.
It was this situation that provoked the ordinary MPs to protest. Hitherto, the ordinary MP was given a car loan of FCFA 8 million each mandate.The Bureau meeting reversed this situation, stating that the FCFA 8 million will be a car allowance and no longer a car loan. Thus, FCFA 166.000 will no longer be deducted from the salaries of MPs every month.
In view of the recent prescriptions by President Paul Biya, the Bureau meeting increased the salaries of the National Assembly workers by 15 percent.While defending the institution of such allowances, Hon. Joseph Banadzem, Bui Central constituency MP in the Northwest Province, said the measure was to enable MPs earn what their equivalents in government receive.
The Assembly Bureau also appointed Abdoulaye Daouda, (a magistrate) Second Assistant Secretary General of the House. He replaces Bah Oumarou Sanda who was recently appointed Cameroon's Ambassador to the Republic of Chad.
Alternative MPs Ask For Pay
Meanwhile, some alternate MPs have called on government to institute allowances for them too. They argue that they are elected officials just like their substantive counterparts.
In a letter allegedly sent to the Prime Minister recently, the alternate MPs say they should be awarded the same advantages as their substantive MPs.
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Speaking to The Post recently, Hon. Tilder Kumichi Ndichia, one of the alternate MPs for Boyo constituency, corroborated the idea that they be awarded allowances."We were also elected alongside our substantive MPs. We work in collaboration with them. I think we should be paid for the services we render," she said.
Good these guys are being paid for a job well done to the head of state. I hope they are ready to die with him also when death shall come. The africanS living in china now ARE IN DEEP SHIT , THE IMMIGRATION OFFICERS NO LONGER EXTEND THE VISAS FOR AFRICANS BECAUSE AS THEY PUT IT ,[ THE OLYMPIC GAMES.] BUT AFRICANS ARE GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GAMES. CAN THE PARLIAMENTARIANS USE GOVERNMENT CHANNELS TO QUESTIUON THIS BEHAVIOUR GIVEN THAT THESE SAME CHINESE ARE LIVING FREELY IN THE STREETS OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES.. is IT NOT DISGRACEFUL... [Read Full Text]
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