Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07YAOUNDE1109
2007-09-10 13:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Yaounde
Cable title:  

CAMEROON: BOLD STROKE FOR COMPETENCE,

Tags:  PGOV KCOR PREL PINR CM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2821
PP RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHYD #1109/01 2531347
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 101347Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8120
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 0002
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 YAOUNDE 001109 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/C INL/C
STATE PASS MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP.
PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS
EUCOM FOR J5-1 AND POLAD YATES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV KCOR PREL PINR CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: BOLD STROKE FOR COMPETENCE,
ANTI-CORRUPTION IN NEW GOV'T

REF: A. YAOUNDE 1090

B. YAOUNDE 1068 (NOTAL)

C. YAOUNDE 1036 (NOTAL)

D. YAOUNDE 1012 (NOTAL)

E. YAOUNDE 865 (NOTAL)

F. YAOUNDE 732 (NOTAL)

Classified By: Poloff Tad Brown for reasons 1.4 b and d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 YAOUNDE 001109

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/C INL/C
STATE PASS MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP.
PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS
EUCOM FOR J5-1 AND POLAD YATES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV KCOR PREL PINR CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: BOLD STROKE FOR COMPETENCE,
ANTI-CORRUPTION IN NEW GOV'T

REF: A. YAOUNDE 1090

B. YAOUNDE 1068 (NOTAL)

C. YAOUNDE 1036 (NOTAL)

D. YAOUNDE 1012 (NOTAL)

E. YAOUNDE 865 (NOTAL)

F. YAOUNDE 732 (NOTAL)

Classified By: Poloff Tad Brown for reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary. President Biya on September 7 ordered a
major cabinet reshuffle, dismissing 14 ministers -- including
a number of the most notoriously corrupt and inept -- and
refashioning two ministries to create a Ministry of Finance
and a Ministry of Economy, Planning and Rural Development.
This was the bold move many were waiting for, a stroke
simultaneously against corruption and for competent
governance. Cameroon's deep-seated problems of corruption
and governance cannot be uprooted by the stroke of the pen,
even one so bold. Nevertheless, this is possibly the most
significant, promising government shakeup in Biya's 25 year
tenure, and we are encouraged by the message it sends. Para
7 contains a full list of new positions; para 8 contains a
full list of dismissed ministers. End summary.


2. (C) It was widely anticipated that Biya would make
changes in the cabinet after the July elections for the
National Assembly and municipalities. Our own conversations
with senior Government of Cameroon (GRC) officials and those
reported to us by other diplomats (refs a-e) suggested that
the shakeup would demonstrate Biya's seriousness in
dismissing the most corrupt and inept officials in his
government. The new cabinet members were announced over
GRC-owned CRTV radio during the Friday five o'clock news.
The radio announcers were noticeably surprised by the
significance of the news they were relaying, and the new
government lineup dominated the weekend gossip and news talk
circuits, prompting two newspapers to print special weekend
issues headlining the changes.

--------------
Against Corruption
--------------



3. (C) Most discussion thus far has focused on the
dismissal of Finance Minister Polycarpe Abah Abah, considered
by many to be the poster child of grand corruption (ref f).
Like Abah Abah, former ministers Urbain Olaguena Awono
(Health) and Jean-Marie Atangana Mebara (Foreign Affairs)
were perceived as generally competent, but thoroughly
corrupt. Equally corrupt but less competent was Paulin Abono
Moampamb, the out-going Secretary of State for Public Works
and former mayor of Yokadouma, who was allegedly given his
cabinet post last year for a fee, without Biya's knowledge,
to Mebara (when Mebara was in his previous post of Secretary
General at the Presidency). The dismissal of Augustin
Kodock, former Minister for Planning and Rural Development
and head of the Cameroon People's Union (UPC) party, was
likely motivated by politics (the UPC returned no MPs to
Parliament in the July elections),anti-corruption (Kodock
was dogged by credible allegations of malfeasance and
mismanagement),and competence (a septuagenarian in and out
of government since the 1960s, Kodock was uninspiring as the
dynamo of economic development). Although Post had received
nothing but positive reviews for the tenure of outbound
Minister of Mines Charles Sale, a prominent Cameroonian
commentator confided to poloff that Sale's dismissal was
triggered by his habit of soliciting personal stakes in
companies seeking concessions in Cameroon.

--------------
Pro-Competence; Pro-Growth
--------------


4. (C) As previewed, the shuffle also emphasized the need
to select competent individuals, especially to head those
ministries with key roles in Biya's stated goal of spurring
economic growth and national development. The Ministry of
Economy and Finance (MINEFI) and the Ministry for Planning,
Development and Technology were replaced with a Ministry of
Finance (MinFin) and Ministry of Economy, Planning and
Regional Development (MINEPRD). Lazare Essimi Menye,
previously the Delegate Minister for the Budget in MINEFI and
well regarded by the donor community, was promoted to
Minister of Finance. Louis Paul Motaze, who takes up the
newly created MINEPRD portfolio, is widely respected for his
leadership in salvaging the National Social Insurance Fund.

YAOUNDE 00001109 002 OF 003


Incoming Foreign Minister Henri Eyebe Ayissi was most
recently Inspector General for Electoral Issues at the
Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization
and had been the Minister for Town Planning in the 1990s,
while still in his 30s. He is generally reputed to be a
relatively clean, competent bureaucrat.

--------------
Politics Plays a Role
--------------


5. (C) The motivation behind many of the moves remains
murky, but undoubtedly politics played a part. Jean Nkuete
continues as Minister of Agriculture but gains the title of
Vice Prime Minister (already held by Minister for Justice
Amadou Ali),most likely in recognition for the support his
native West Province provided to Biya's Cameroon People's
Democratic Movement (CPDM) party in the July elections. Ama
Tutu Muna, with whom we worked closely in her position as
Secretary of State for Commerce, was promoted to Minister for

SIPDIS
Culture likely as a return for the CPDM's strong showing in
her native Northwest Province. Reputed as a CPDM party thug
in the Northwest and tarnished by his involvement in a
banking scandal, Paul Atanga Nji is the most apparent "bad
apple" in the new team, likely given a ministerial portfolio
at the Presidency to reward his CPDM activism in the
Northwest Province. Many September 10 headlines focused on
the political element of the shuffle, saying Biya had sacked
Abah Abah, Olaguena, and Mebara because of their alleged
leadership of a secretive group working to determine Biya's
successor (referred to as the "G11" in reference to 2011, the
expected end of Biya's tenure).

--------------
Comment: Finally, A Sign of Political Will
--------------


6. (C) Although we bear no illusions about the resilience
of Cameroon's corruption and governance problems, the
September 7 personnel changes were better for Cameroon and
for USG objectives in Cameroon than we had dared hope.
Arrests could follow, as many government critics say that
firing corrupt officials is not enough -- the government must
recover their ill-gotten gains. Some problematic members of
the government remain in their positions, but several of the
newcomers are well-known to us and are welcome additions.
Most significant is the fact that Biya has acted, more
decisively than he ever has, to root out corruption and
instill improved governance, especially economic governance,
in Cameroon. End comment.


7. (U) Begin list of new ministers/portfolios added in
September 7 Presidential Decree (updated list of the full
government will follow septel):

--Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development: Jean NKUETE

--Minister of Finance: Lazare ESSIMI MENYE

--Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development:
Louis Paul MOTAZE

--Minister of External Relations: Henri EYEBE AYISSI

--Minister of Culture: Ama Tutu MUNA

--Minister of Industry, Mines, and Technological
Developpement: Badel NDANGA NDINGA

--Minister of Transport: Haounaye GOUNOKO

--Minister of Public Health: Andre MAMA FOUDA

--Minister of Communication: Jean Pierre BIYITI BI ESSAM

--Minister of State Property and Land Affairs: M. ANONG A
DIBEME Pascal

--Delegate Minister, Ministry of Economy, Planning and
Regional Development: Abdoulaye YAOUBA

--Delegate Minister, Ministry of Finance: Pierre TITTI

--Minister at the Presidency of the Republic: Paul ATANGA NJI


YAOUNDE 00001109 003 OF 003


--Secretary of State, Ministry of Industry, Mines, and
Technological Development: Gentry FUH CALISTUS

--Secretary of State, Ministry of Public Works: Hans NYETAM
NYETAM

--Secretary of State, Ministry of Forests and Wildlife:
Joseph Roland MATTA

--Secretary of State, Ministry of Transport: Oumarou MEFIRO

--Secretary of State, Ministry of Basic Education: Andre
MANGA EWOLO

End list of new cabinet portfolios added in September 7
Presidential Decree.



8. (U) Begin list of 15 ministers dismissed in the
September 7 shuffle.

--Minister of State, Minister of Culture: Ferdinand Leopold
OYONO

--Minister of State, Minister of Planning and Rural
Development: Augustin Frederic KODOCK

--Minister of State, Minister of External Relations: Jean
Marie Atangana MEBARA

--Minister of Transport: Dakole DAISSALA

--Minister of Economy and Finance: Polycarpe ABAH ABAH

--Minister of Industry, Mines, and Technological Development:
Charles SALE

--Minister of Public Health: Urbain OLAGUENA AWONO

--Minister of State Property and Land Affairs: Louis Marie
ABOGO NKONO

--Minister of Communication: Ebenezer Njoh MOUELLE

--Minister Delegate, Ministry of Communication: Gervais MONDO
ZE

--Minister Delegate, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Charged
with Programs: Daniel Njankouo LAMERE

--Secretary of State, Ministry of Public Works: Abono Paulin
MOAMPAMB

--Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy and Finance: Denis
OUMAROU

--Secretary of State, Ministry of State Property and Land
Affairs: Jean Claude ETOGO

--Secretary of State, Ministry of Agrilculture: Abdoulaye
ABOUBAKARY

End list of 15 ministers dismissed in the September 7 cabinet
reshuffle.
NELSON