- Elung Paul
Che, former DG of CSPH
The Minister
Delegate to the Minister of Finance, Elung Paul Che, who doubled as Director
General of the Hydrocarbons Prices Stabilization Fund, CSPH, has said that if
he is hailed today for a successful management of the petroleum company, he
owes it all to President Biya, who set the goals and the objectives of the
company and also prescribed the orientation to be followed by management. Elung
spoke to the press on the sidelines of the ceremony to install the new DG of
CSPH, Okie Johnson Ndoh, on Friday 15 December.
4 years 8
months at the helm of CSPH, what sentiments animate you as you finally quit
this strategic petroleum company?
 |
Former DG of
CSPH, Elung Paul Che,leaving the
CSPH premises with head high
|
Thank you for
giving me the opportunity to express my sentiments as I leave this beautiful
company. Without mincing or wincing I should say I am leaving CSPH with my head
high. I am filled with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. I say so
because when I came to CSPH, I met a company that was in distress; a company
that was facing serious challenges. I recall that I inherited a CSPH whose
reserves were at an all-time low. The reserves could barely sustain the
company’s routine activities for another quarter. So faced with this situation
I immediately set out to work. I challenged myself to do everything to overturn
the bad situation at the company. And believe you me, after just one year at
the company we witnessed a marked positive change in our financial records.
With this positive result in just the first year, I told myself I could do
better, why not. But I must state here emphatically that the orientation we
gave the company was that which had been prescribed to me by the head of state
upon my appointment. The goals and objectives were also set by the President.
So if I was able to accomplish the task assigned me at CSPH I owe it all to the
head of state and I will always thank him for giving me the opportunity to
serve him and to serve the nation.
In his
remarks while installing the new DG on Friday, the Board Chairman, Minister Luc
Magloire Mbarga Atangana, praised you lavishly for what he described as your
excellent management at CSPH. The Minister also extended to you the ‘high
congratulations’ of the head of state and urged the new DG to walk in your
footsteps. How did feel when you listened to the Board Chairman say this about
you?
--I could
only be happy for the acknowledgment. And my fulfillment was all the more
because the Board Chairman said the Head of State was satisfied with the work I
had done. I don’t think anyone can be indifferent to recognition by the head of
state. However, I should say that instead of developing a big head I rather
take such acknowledgment in all humility. And this will only push me to always
strive to do better.
You could not
have achieved this much-acclaimed success without the contribution of the staff
of CSPH. What did you do to ensure good
collaboration from the staff of CSPH?
--That is a
very good question. Like you say no manager can succeed if those around him are
not ready to collaborate well or if the conditions of work are not good enough
for his personnel. Like the English adage goes, no one hand can tie a bundle.
So, the first principle of any manager worth the name is to first make sure his
personnel are motivated. And that is what we are thought in school. However I
cannot enumerate all the measures I took to motivate staffers of CSPH. But I
must say I did my best to provide a working environment that made them happy
and comfortable. Being a company in the petroleum sector there is no doubt that
the salaries are relatively good. So apart from providing a very conducive
atmosphere in their work places I also made sure they had extra bonuses for
performance. But I emphasized to them that the bonuses they should receive
would depend on the performance and the net profits of the company; the more
the profits the more the bonus, and vice versa. That meant that if they worked
hard for the company to make profits over and above its set objective then they
should have more as bonuses. I also took
measures to ensure that their pensions upon retirment were reviewed upwards. I
think the workers saw with me and the result is what we are talking today
But some
members of your staff complained that you were very conservative with money;
that you literally blocked all outlets at the company, unlike your predecessor
who was somewhat of a Father Christmas. How do you react to this?
--(Laughs).
That’s interesting! Well, I think that those who said I was tight with money
have their reasons for saying so. But I believe these are perhaps who were
probably benefitting some undue advantages during the previous management but
which advantages I withdrew when I realized that they were not legitimate or
lawful. But again you must understand that good finance managers are
essentially, and more often than not, finance conservatives. Besides, it is
difficult for decisions that a public manager takes in the interest of the
state to be popular. People will always want you to satisfy their selfish
interest at the expense of the state. But I must affirm here that I was brought
to CSPH by the head of state to serve him and to help build the national economy.
So for every decision that I took I first made sure it tied with the
orientations given me by the head of state. Perhaps some of these decisions
were not popular by the reckoning of some staffers. Yet, whenever I was sure
that a decision I had taken was not at variance with the prescriptions of the
head of state, I made sure the decision was fully applied. And the result is
what you and I know today.
The Board
Chairman advised the new DG to follow in your footsteps. If the new DG comes to
you for advice what will you tell him?
--That is a
tricky question. Tricky because the new DG is somebody I hold in high esteem
especially because of the brilliant career he has had as a top civil servant.
You heard the Board Chairman say he is a senior civil administrator of an
exceptional class. This means he is somebody who has proven his mettle in the
administration of public affairs. So what advice can I give to a man of such
experience and savvy? I think Mr. Okie knows exactly what he is called to do at
CSPH. I believe also that the President who appointed him to this position has
given him the orientations to follow and has told him clearly what he expects
from him. That notwithstanding, giving that I had once served at the company I
think if he comes any time to seek my opinion on anything, of course, I should
be readily available. But for now I can only wish him the best so that he can
keep the standards we tried to set for the company and even raise it higher,
why not!
Mr. Minister
very recently a local newspaper reported that CSPH “fraudulently” wired 11.5
billion Fcfa to the national air carrier Camair.Co. Can you clear the air on
this?
--I laugh at
times when I read such reports in the press because such unfounded reports only
show how unserious and incredible our press can be some times. How can any
serious press publish a story to the effect that a public company fraudulently
transferred huge sums of money to another public company? Does it sound well in
your ears? Did they do their investigations before doing their story? I think
the newspaper in question just wanted to write something that would make it
sell more copies. But I must say it and emphatically too that the newspaper got
it all wrong. And I urge them to do their investigation well if they want to
write about Elung Paul or the CSPH. And I must say that it is easy for the
press to investigate the management of a company because management has got to
do with figures. At the CSPH we have both internal and external auditors who
work independently. So why not avail yourself to any or all of these auditors
or the management if you need information for your report? I think the person
who did that report knows little or nothing about Elung Paul because I did not
see myself or the CSPH in what he wrote.
You have had
the opportunity to serve both as DG and as Minister. If you were asked to
choose between being the DG of CSPH or being a Minister Delegate, which would
you prefer?
--(Laughs)
That is an interesting question but unfortunately I don’t have the latitude to
make a choice. The only person who has the prerogative to choose what is good
for whoever in our country is the head of state. You are well aware that to
become DG of CSPH it was thanks to a decree of the head of state. Also to
become Minister Delegate to the MINFI it was also by a decision of the head of
state. So only the head of state knows why, when and how he assigns people to
specific functions. Yet, for the journalist that you are I need not remind you
that a Minister is a bigger authority to a DG. And because of this it is the
wish, I emphasize wish, of most GM’s to want to become ministers. However,
nothing stops you from becoming DG again after becoming Minister, just like
nothing stops even a Prime Minister from becoming Minister in the same
government. We saw it in Gabon where Oye Mba Casimir was made Minister of Plan
after having served as PM. In Cote d’Ivoire Ouattara Dramane Alassane became
Minister after serving as PM. In Camroon people have been appointed technical
advisers in ministries after having served as ministers. So it depends on the
President and not you.
Thank you Mr.
Minister for finally accepting to talk to us. We esteem it a privilege because
you have always shied away from the press.
--(Laughs).
It is me to thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk on my stewardship
at CSPH. About my shying away from the press, I think you are correct. I shy
away because i think it is the best thing for me to do because I have nothing
to advertise. The head of state did not appoint me to become a star of the
press. He appointed me to work. And he should be the one to judge me. If I go
out talking to the press each time they come calling, I may be tempted to judge
myself and this to me is not the right thing to do.
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