Performance, budgetary discipline

Mr. Elung Paul Che

CSPH management gets the thumbs-up!
The Board of Directors of the Petroleum Prizes Stabilization Fund, CSPH, has hailed the Management for effectively increasing revenues and considerably cutting down expenditure.
    Mr. Elung Paul Che and his team were extolled during the 35th Ordinary Session of the Board of Directors, holding in Yaounde, on Friday 12 June 2015.
     According to a press release issued at the end of the Board session and signed by the Board Chairman, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, the Board noted with satisfaction “the remarkable efforts deployed by Management, especially in the efficient reduction of the operating costs and the improvement of the gross margin of the company for the period under review.”
    Operating within the context of an ever increasing domestic market demand for petroleum products, notably cooking gas, the Board acknowledged with satisfaction the regular supply of these products on the home market, in spite of a 5% increase in consumption of petroleum products, and 14% increase in consumption f cooking gas.
    More importantly, the Board after reviewing the accounts and financial statements of the company congratulated the management for effectively increasing revenues and considerably cutting down costs.
    It should be noted that for the period under review, CSPH generated total revenues amounting to over 62 billion FCFA and cut down its running expenses to just over 49 billion, thus generating net profits of about 13 billion FCFA (12.924.978.264 FCFA). Construction works of the Bertoua Liquefied Petroleum Gas Filling plant were also completed. With the filling plant now effectively operational, access of the populations of the East region to domestic gas has been greatly facilitated.
    Observers note that this wonderful performance of CSPH is not by chance; it is thanks to the vision of the General Manager, Paul Elung Che, and the policies he adopted since taking over as General Manager on 3rd May 2013.

    After observing the company for several months, Mr. Elung Paul in January 2014 said the major challenges that needed to be addressed were: Performance and effectiveness.
    The GM with the approval of the Board put in place a strategic plan with objective to increase revenues, and at the same time, cutting down expenditures. The strategic plan also sought to ensure greater innovation in managing cash-flow and reserves, modernize business processes and promote transparency and good governance.
    To ensure success of the plan, Elung Paul enjoined his collaborators to imbibe the central tenets of good governance: Transparency, efficiency, accountability, moral probity and assiduity at work. The GM exhorted workers of CSPH to adopt the best attitudes to their individual and collective tasks, arguing that it is only by so doing that they can collectively obtain the best results and improve performance, especially giving the strategic and very delicate mission that is theirs.
    With the nod of the Board, the GM redeployed his personnel in January 2014 and exhorted newly appointed officials to ensure frank collaboration and efficiency.
    Apart from redeploying personnel, the GM also convinced the Board to adopt a new Organizational Chart for the company. By virtue of the new organigram, the Douala office of CSPH was transformed into a fully-fledged department, while the department for internal audit became the department of control and internal audit.
    These changes were imperative because 95% of the activities of CSPH take place in Douala. Then the new department of control now ensures regular control and assessment of workers’ performance.
    An experienced and versatile technocrat with a proven track record in the management of public institutions, Elung Paul was not oblivious of the fact that workers of the company cannot perform optimally if they are not adequately motivated. In this regard he convinced the Board to raise salaries for workers and also provide other allowances that are enjoyed by workers of other petroleum companies in the country.  Mr. Elung also made sure he provided the best working environment for all his collaborators.
    That was probably the reason why some workers of the company who spoke to The Median, could not conceal their satisfaction with the GM.
    “I must admit that it is a completely different working environment that we have at CSPH. The approach of the new GM is quite unique. Everything is so transparent; all the conditions to ensure optimum performance of workers have been provided; one has no excuse to give if you fail to do your work well,” said a worker of CSPH who preferred not to be named in this report.
    Another worker observed: “our GM is a very strict person and that is why today you notice that every body comes to work in time and you can also always find workers on their desks during working hours.”