Cabinet reshuffle:

 Random jottings

By Douglas A. Achingale in Yaounde

The wait for a new cabinet reshuffle in Cameroon had been too long. After President Paul Biya flayed his entire government for inertia some two years ago, many thought he would eject most of its components soon after as a way of salvaging the situation. But that was not to be. In his characteristic manner of not wanting to be predicted, the Chief Executive allowed them to stay in their respective positions for all these years, and then acted just when everyone least expected. Some say the reshuffle is coming too little, too late; but others hold that it is better than nothing and therefore most welcome. However, many commentators hold the opinion that some of the exits, entries and changes could be seen coming. Let’s take a worm’s eye view of the 2 October 2015 cabinet shake-up.

PM Yang head high

Prime Minister Philemon Yang clearly emerges strong from the reshuffle. Not only did he survive the whirlwind, he is also seen to have been given more powers as it is mentioned in the decree signed by the Head of State that the exercise was carried out on the proposals of the Prime Minister. Above all, most of the ministers who had proved to be recalcitrant to the Head of Government were either shown the door or taken away from his side. Those fired are Arts and Culture minister Ama Tutu Muna, Agriculture and Rural Development minister EssimiMenye, and Sports and Physical Education minister AdoumGaroua. As for Louis Paul Motaze who was a thorn in the flesh of the PM while he was SG at the former’s cabinet, he was catapulted to the ministry of Economy and Plan ostensibly to let Philemon Yang have some respite.

Biya relocates his ‘sons’

Amongst those to have survived the storm are Edgard Alain MebeNgo’o and Louis Paul Motaze, two ‘boys’ who are related to the President and who grew up with him. True it is that they are not the only ‘children’ who grew up under President Biya’s feet. But the fact that he has them in his government today and for many years now shows how much confidence he has in them.

                We all saw how meteorically MebeNgo’o rose to the very strategic position of defence minister. Truth be told, the President does not hand the security of the state to just any kind of person. The Boko Haram insurgency might have exposed some of MebeNgo’o’s frailties; but the trust his ‘father’ has in him made the latter not to throw the baby with the bath water. Rather, he made him step into the shoes of his former in-law (Cousin of his late wife Jeanne Irene Biya), Robert Nkili, whose tenure at the ministry of Transport was rocked by financial scandals. On two occasions, it leaked to the press that some rascals in Nkili’s residence escaped with whopping sums of money!

                If Motaze was sent back to the MINEPAT that he formerly headed, it means President Biya does not doubt his expertise. In fact, anyone who knows him right from the days he was manning the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS) would attest that he is not a round peg in a square hole. And if the current did not flow between him and PM Yang it was probably not because of incompetence but surely as a result of arrogant disrespect for his boss’ authority.

Beti Assomo: A pleasant surprise

Perhaps the most astonishing appointment is that of former Littoral governor, Joseph BetiAssomo. That he was appointed minister is not at all mind-boggling. But that he was made to occupy the state security seat raises an avalanche of questions in the minds of concerned critics. What did the meek-looking administrator do throughout his 30-year career as SDO and governor that makes him deserve the defence ministry portfolio? Did he replace MebeNgo’o just because he is a man from the grand Centre-South? Did President Biya fear to appoint a Northerner to that post because he thinks the former could have some dealings with Boko Haram? What is BetiAssomo really up to? The Median strongly believes that even Assomo himself was taken aback by the announcement. Like most Cameroonians, this newspaper is more than anxious to see how many security hills the man will be able to clamber in his new ministerial boots.

Sickly Emmanuel Bonde, BapesBapes deserve rest

The sacking of Emmanuel Bonde as minister of mines, industries and technological development is a most welcome relief, at least for the man himself and for those who know how increasingly fragile his health has been these past years. It can be recalled how he collapsed in public in his native East region sometime ago while campaigning for the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM). Unconfirmed reports say he collapsed for the second time not long after the first incident. Critics were thus worried when in the 2011 cabinet reshuffle President Biya assigned the former minister of Public Service to head another ministry instead of sending him home on retirement.

                BapesBapes’ state of health is even more worrisome than Bonde’s. Ever since an audacious female judge compelled him to spend one night in the Kondengui central prison, things have never been the same for him again. His situation seems to be compounded by his advanced age. The fact that he suddenly started using a walking stick clearly indicates that illness and age are mercilessly taking their toll on him. He tries to wear a broad smile each time he is in public, but keen observers never miss to notice that such a smile is always dented with pain. It is thus a good thing that the President relieved him of his functions. Those to regret his absence from the ministry of Secondary Education are the multitude of Bassa men and women whom he was using to tribalise the ministry.     

Heady AmaMuna shown the door

One good thing about President Biya is that he does not forget the children or closed ones of his bosses of yesterday. If he has chosen to work with Bello BoubaMaïgari for all these years, it is because of the latter’s affiliation to former President AhmadouAhidjo. Ama Tutu Muna was brought into government ‘from nowhere’ thanks to the role her father played in the politics of the yesteryears. But the 55-year-old woman failed to take advantage of this to reap amply from where her father sowed. She refused to toe the line and went fighting not only with artistes but also with the Supreme Court and even with the Prime Minister. Pertinent issues such as the absence of cinema halls in the country which she should have addressed were relegated to the background. Whoever told her she would do all of this and go scot-free deceived her in no small measure, reason why she has been forced to embrace the world of unemployment once again.

The “golden boy” Elung Paul shines even brighter!

An American adage goes thus: “The game of life is a game of boomerangs; our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.” Many Cameroonians who know of what stuff Elung Paul Che is made and who have all along been monitoring his progress on the administrative ladder, had at one moment or the other predicted that it would not take long for this “golden boy” from KupeMuanenguba Division to land a ministerial job. They were not mistaken. It has come to pass. Question: what did these observers base their judgment on? Answer: academic profile, professional savvy and administrative competence.

                Yes indeed, Elung Paul has earned and will continue to earn overly attractive marks when tested in these challenging domains. He holds a “Maîtrise” in Law from the then University of Yaounde which he obtained with distinction, a diploma from ENAM where he emerged as the best overall student (major) of his batch and an MBA in Public Finance from Harvard University. He worked in different capacities in the Ministry of Economy and Finance before he was successively appointed Pay Master General for the North West and South West regions.

                That is not all. The “enfant cheri” of Anglophone Cameroon later rose to become the youngest Director of Treasury ever. He also had a stint in the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) where he was the censeur (his signature still appears on bank notes until today) before he was given another prestigious job at the ministry of Finance: Director General of Treasury. That position seemed to have served as a springboard for the Senior Treasury Inspector whose next post was that of Director General of the Hydrocarbons Prices Stabilization Fund (CSPH).

                In all of these offices, Elung Paul has left his footprints on the sands of time as far as accountability and transparency are concerned. Never has he been accused of financial rascality. On the contrary, he has been doing his all to frustrate the attempts of vultures around him to pilfer state money. Just after one year at CSPH, for example, he was able to return more than 11 billion FCFA of the structure’s net profit to the state treasury.

                Such an intimidating and impressive performance could not leave President Biya indifferent. And that may just be why he brought this typical finance conservative to the Ministry of Finance to work in close collaboration with yet another workaholic finance expert, AlamineOusmaneMey, for the advancement of the country’s economy. Commentators are already saying that with this duo at the ministry of Finance, Cameroon’s dream of emerging by 2035 would certainly be fulfilled? 

MoukokoMbonjo saw no farther than his nose

Two main things caused Pierre MoukokoMbonjo to fall out of President Biya’sfavour: false dreams and lack of hard work – call it inertia. The musician-cum-Professor mistook his post of External Relations minister for the N⁰ 1 minister. And so he thought that he was flying in a politico-administrative orbit that was superior to that in which his colleagues flew. His haughtiness and false dreams grew like wild fire each time it dawned on him that he had two ministers delegate under him.

                In fact, MoukokoMbonjo loved the pleasures of his job more than the tasks he was supposed to perform. His best moments were when he flew out of the country to represent the Head of State in one ceremony or another. Given that he rubbed shoulders on such occasions with foreign dignitaries higher in rank than himself, he believed that he was in a superior world of his own. Each time he had the opportunity to thank his boss, he would do it in a melodramatic manner.  But the President, being what he is, ignored his antics this time around and flushed him out of the government.

‘Father-in-law’ BidoungKpwatt bounces back

The Sport ministry is not new to Ismaël Pierre BidoungKpwatt. He once manned it before he was dropped from the government. He is known for his characteristic assiduity and solicitousness; but the seat of the Sport minister being always too hot as to burn the buttocks of its occupant, observers knew, when he was dismissed, that he was down but not out. He was out of the government but remained close to the presidential family since he was the one who posed as Chantal’s father during her wedding to President Biya, and thus received the bride price.

                It was therefore not the least surprising that BidoungKpwatt was later appointed minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education. His return to his former ministry now shows that President Biya is taking him more seriously than ever before. At a time when Cameroon is bracing up to host the women’s and men’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2016 and 2019 respectively, there is little wonder that the President has seen potentials in Bidoung that are absent in most of his colleagues. The minister knows only too well what football represents to Cameroonians. It is thus in his best interest not to “make erreur.”