Open letter to President Paul Biya

H.E. The President of the Republic of Cameroon
Office of the President
P.O. Box 100, Yaoundé

Subject: A Patriotic Call to Our Head of State: Act on Our Salary Situation Now!

Your Excellency,
    We, representatives of the Councilors of the North West Region, wish to inform your high office that after the intensive and fruitful workshops that were organized by the Ministry of Territorial
    Administration and Finance, the councilors of nearly all the Regions organized themselves into organizations to do follow-ups on issues concerning them and the welfare of their peers at the workplace. Excellency, sir, we did this, knowing that the Union of Cities and Councils of Cameroon (UCCC) exists. But, we hasten to note here that UCCC deals more with the units called councils and cares less about the plight and welfare of councilors and mayors. That is why for all these years, Cameroonian councilors have never been considered when treating issues of salaries and wages. Someone may not be telling Your Excellency the bare facts that these Cameroonians, elected after very serious campaigns and having proven to the populace that they can stand for them and work for them, end up depending only on some meager allowances, in some cases and in most cases, running below the “Minimum Wage” of 36.000 fcfa (Thirty Six Thousand Francs)!!!


Unbelievable!
    Excellency, Sir. Given the task, the burden and the workload that these councilors are called upon to execute on a daily basis; Considering the huge envelops and luxuries that Cameroonian Senators have after being elected by these Councilors ( yet, doing very little!); In view of Your Excellency’s call for transparency and fight against corruption ( and we hasten to state that where there are no wages substantial in ratio to the work, people tend to fill up the gaps!!); Given the work load of mayors in the present dispensation of effective decentralization in Cameroon; Mindful of the reliable and official information given to us last March during the training of mayors by MINAT-D, that Mayors’ salaries will be paid this year; In view of the fact that the Minister of State for Territorial Administration and Decentralization, H.E. Rene Emmanuel Sadi assured the Cameroon parliament in March 2014 that the 2014 State Budget had already taken care of the salary of Mayors of Cameroon; Taking into consideration that Cameroon is one of the few nations ( especially in francophone Africa) where councilors are yet to receive a monthly wage; We, Councilors and Mayors of North West, as our colleagues in other Regions, join the Ministry of Territorial Administration to state as follows:
    Thank the Cameroon Government for at last thinking of this very vital sector of society as the hub and pivot of development who deserve to be paid regular salary on a monthly basis; Thank the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization and Economy and Finance for being so clairvoyant and considerate in working out the modalities for the payment of salaries for mayors in
Cameroon; Implore your high office to see to the effective execution of this laudable an d patriotic initiative; Deplore all attempts by whosever in or out of your office to hinder the effective signing of the final text of application by your high office.
    We remain confident and assured that Your Excellency will give a fatherly and reasonable attention to this call by patriots who are ready to, not only work for the Dream Cameroon by 2035, but bent on making it happen in all the corners and communities of the Cameroon nation.

Accept, Your Excellency, our highest regards.
DONE IN BAMENDA, THIS 14TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2014
For, and on behalf of NW Councilors Martin Fon YEMBE (Interim President)

N.B. It should be noted that this association is the offspring of theMarch 2014 training workshop of Cameroon mayors by MINAT-D and MINFI.
The members of the Exco include councilors, Deputy Mayors of CPDM, SDF councils in the entire Region. A permanent bureau will be put in place after the first General Assembly that is programmed for November 2014.
Martin Fon Yembe was unanimously designated to handle the Interim Presidency until then.