Petition writers set confusion in Pamol
PLC
The smooth functioning of Pamol Plantations
PLC, the age-old agro-industrial outfit situated in Ndian Division of the South
West region has been rocked in recent months by workers strikes, petition
writing and circulation of tracts calling for the sacking of the Interim
General Manager IGM, Chief Mekanya Charles Okon. But the IGM’s supporters have
dismissed the allegations brought against their boss, saying it is a conspiracy
by his political enemies to smear his image and bring about his fall
By AtemnkengEvaristus in Lobe
 |
Pamol IGM, Chief Mekanya Charles,
grappling with petitions and strikes
|
In what can be interpreted as playing the
advocate for the Pamol IGM, the SDO for Ndian Division in the Southwest Region,
Chamberlain Ntou’ouNdong, has described as baseless and unfounded allegations
contained in a petition addressed to the Prime Minister, Head of Government in
Yaounde by a man passing for an employee of Pamol PLC and the delegated
secretary of the Pamol Workers’ Union. NjibiliMolimoMokanya in his petition, is
accusing Pamol’s Interim General Manager IGM, Charles MekanyaOkon of various
crimes against the state, the workers of Pamol and the state-run agro-industry.
But
the Ndian SDO in a recent outing in Pamol, dismissed all the allegations in the
petition, saying they constitute a calculated attempt by some misguided and
self-seeking individuals, to incite Pamol workers into rebellion and mislead
Yaounde authorities into believing that Pamol is poorly managed.
The
SDO was speaking on Wednesday 16 March 2016 while presiding over a crisis
meeting in the conference hall of PAMOL’s Head Office at Lobe estate.
Addressing workers and management of the agro-company, the SDO wondered why a
man, who claims to be an employee of Pamol, should take upon himself to
petition the Prime Minister, Head of Government through the SW Governor and
calling for the sacking of his employer and boss, the Interim General Manager.
“I
think this is a conspiracy by some persons to sabotage the management of Pamol.
But I must state here that the management of Pamol is doing a wonderful job so
far and the company is arguably one of the best managed companies in the
country at the moment,” the SDO opined.
Believed
to be authored by a few disgruntled employees of Pamol, the 8-page petition
dated 4 March 2016, accused the Interim General Manager among other things of
mismanagement and embezzlement of billions of FCFA meant for the Bakassi
extension project; siphoning state funds meant for the expansion and
modernization of Pamol; bribery and corruption; theft; victimization; torture
of workers; miserable treatment and wrongful dismissal of workers and failing
to pay accrued salary arrears owed to workers since one year now.
The
Interim General Manager Chief Mekanya Charles has denied all the accusations,
describing them as ‘trash’. Chief Mekanya says after analyzing the petition he
has come to the unshakable conclusion that it was written by the same ten
aggrieved workers who had earlier petitioned the divisional delegate of Labour
and Social Security for Ndian division, asking him to urge Pamol’s management
to upgrade their status in the company.
But
the IGM said when the labour delegate informed him about the said petition he
wasted no time to reject the requests of the petition writers. Chief Mekanya
said management could not heed the demands of a small group of workers first,
because Pamol is not run by the labour department. He said if the ten employees
who signed the petition wanted compensation, they should have directed their
demands to management and not to the labour delegate.
Besides,
the IGM emphasized that it is not the prerogative of workers to determine the
positions they occupy in a company and/or their salaries. He said management
would have set a bad precedence if ever she heeded the demands of the ten
petition writers.
Chief
Makanya boasted that for the three years that he has been at the helm of Pamol,
the agro-industry has witnessed one of the most peaceful periods in its
chequered history. He noted that no strikes and/or skirmishes have ever
happened during his leadership, not until recently.
The
IGM wondered why a handful of individuals should undermine efforts being made
by management to keep the company afloat and are so desperately bent on jeopardizing
the very visible achievements so far recorded and worse still, the peace that
reigns in PAMOL this, for very unjustified reasons.
Explaining
the issue of salary arrears, the IGM noted that before he got to the helm, PAMOL had been operating a salary scale that
did not respect statutory provisions. He said a decision by management to
implement the salary scale provided for by law is what has provoked the anger
and disappointment expressed by some workers.
He
explained further that management took the hard decision just in a bid to
generate funds to redeem the outstanding debts it inherited from the former
administration, amounting to over FCFA 250 millions.
Chief
Mekanya explained that despite the stagnating price of palm oil on the market and
despite an ever increasing running budget of Pamol, management has been able to
clear the FCFA 250 million outstanding debt and redeemed another debt due
amounting to over FCFA 88 millions, all this thanks to stringent and meticulous
management.
“Despite
our committed efforts to remove road blocks on the path of the company’s growth
and sustainability, some misguided individuals are doing every thing to set the
workers against the management. They told the workers that government has
provided a special financial package to management for the payment of all
salary arrears. This pushed the workers to embark on a strike action last 16
February 2016,” the IGM recalled, however noting that “unfortunately the
conspirators could not achieve their desired goal, as the strike was quickly
brought under control”.
Defending
his boss on the sidelines of the crisis meeting, Pamol’s Human Resource Advisor
HRA, Priestly EnowEgbe, debunked the allegations mentioned in the petition
against the IGM. He pointed out that those who wrote the petition merely
speculated on issues and events. For example, he said the money given to the
SDO for Ndian to demarcate the Bakassi project area was FCFA 43 million and not
FCFA 10 million as purported in the petition. He said the money was authorized
by government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
EnowEgbe
also pointed out that the archives at the Head Office building in Lobe estate
was constructed with FCFA 30 million and not FCFA 50 million, while the grandstand
at Mundemba was built with FCFA 11 million and not 22 million as mentioned in
the petition. Also, the software known as Harvest Plus, was conceived by an
Indian Firm and not a company owned by and fronting for the IGM, as stated in
the petition.
The
HRA also debunked claims by the petitioners that the IGM used part of the money
meant for building the security fence round the Pamol Oil Mill to construct his
private residence. He said the GM started building his house way back in 1998
when the fence had not even been projected.
For
his part, the President of PAMOL workers union, Jonas Eboka has also distanced
the union from the petition forwarded to the Prime Minister. He said there is
no registered member in the Pamol Workers’ Union called NjibiliMolimoMokanya.
Besides, Eboka said the contents of the petition do not reflect the views and
aspirations of Pamolworkers.
That
is perhaps why different workers groups in Pamol have written disclaimers
distancing themselves from MolimoMokanya’s petition to the PM. The workers in
their disclaimers pledged their support and loyalty to the IGM, praising him
for alleviating the precarious welfare situation that reigned in Pamol before
his designation as IGM. The workers noted among other things that water and electricity
have been provided in the camps; latrines and health facilities rehabilitated
while senior staffers are also provided car maintenance bonuses. They also
hailed the IGM for forfeiting some of his own natural advantages like the use
of several kitchen and service cars.
However,
while some commentators are arguing that there can be no smoke without fire and
that the grievances of the petitioners might be objective and real, other
observers believe that Pamol is well managed and that the petition writers are
driven by only one motive: to get the Interim GM dropped from his post this so
that they can have room to perpetrate their private, self-serving agendas.
Privatization option evoked
It
should be mentioned that the troubles in Pamol are rearing their ugly head at a
time when government is contemplating whether or not to finally privatize the
age old agro-industry. The Median got it on good authority that a French
multi-national – GroupeAvril, has already submitted its letter of intent to government
proposing to take over at least 80% of the stakes of Pamol. The French
investors have also indicated that should government accept their buy over
proposal, they will completely restructure the company and appoint a new
management team headed by some body of their choice. GroupeAvril has other interests in the
Njombe-Penja area of the Littoral region.
The
interest of the French investors for Pamol comes after that initially
manifested by the Dutch multi-concern, Kagille Group. It should be mantioned
that Telca Cocoa Company is the Cameroon subsidiary of Kagille Group. But the
Dutch Group has not yet submitted their letter of intent to government, we
learnt.
Government in a dilemma
Yet,
what appears tricky here is the fact that though the government is seemingly
reluctant to privatize Pamol and other agro-companies like CDC and SOCAPALM,
she is at the same time not oblivious that these companies need urgent and huge
financial investments if they must continue to survive, especially given their
bloated man-power. Very dependable sources at the
PM’s Office have affirmed that the government cannot readily afford the kinf of
money needed to salvage these agro-industries. Yet the foreign investors are
brandishing ready cash to inject into the sector and this only on condition
that the government gives them a free hand to manage these companies.
CDC’s bitter-sweet example
It
should be understood that the recent restructuring or better still,
nationalization, of the CDC by government was because the government wanted to
render the CDC credible enough as to attract foreign private investments. With
its ageing plantations, CDC badly needs money to create new plantations and
also diversify its activities. Because the government cannot readily finance these
activities, one of the options open for her was to transform CDC from the
development venture that it was to the totally state-owned corporation that it
is today. Following this ‘restructuring’ the government can now confidently
surety CDC whenever it seeks funding from foreign financiers.
Though
this might augur well for CDC, it at the same time augurs ill for the
indigenous populations of Fako and the Anglophones in general. This is because
the nationalization of CDC has compromised the privilege treatment that the
indigenous Bakweris in particular and the Anglophones have so far enjoyed in
the management of CDC. With CDC now wholly and legally owned by the state, it
will not be surprising that a Francophone becomes the next General Manager
and/or PCA of CDC, why not?
And
with the problems evoked by the petition writers in Pamol and the anxiety that
seems to have gripped the company’s management, it may not be unlikely that the
CDC-styled restructuring is copied and pasted in Pamol.
But
it must be borne in mind that the objective of any private investment is to
maximize profits. So if ever Pamol is handed to foreign owners the first action
they will take will be to drastically cut down on the work force. This is
because much of the activities would become mechanised. And this will only
create a dangerous unemployment situation. It will engender untold suffering in
the very enclaved and highly underdeveloped Ndian division. For one thing Pamol
remains the one biggest employer in Ndian apart from the government and perhaps
the CDC and Korup.
The way forward
Be
it as it may, any attempt by government to hand Pamol to private investors will
only be preposterous; it will hardly meet the aspirations of majority of the
workers of Pamol, especially the unskilled labourers. For one thing, foreign
investors are only out to maximize profits. Whether or not the indigenous
workers are satisfied will not be their primary concern. Cameroonians working
for Chinese companies all over the
country can explain the point better.
That
is why many are of the opinion that government should hasten and put order in
Pamol by either confirming the Interim General Manager IGM in his post this, so
as to afford him the credibility, authority and serenity to concentrate on his
job, or a new GM be appointed and given very firm directives on how to put an
end to the wrangling and anxiety that presently reigns in Pamol PLC.
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