Difficult takeoff for Cameroon Postal Service
The posting of over 1400 personnel by the Minister of P&T to the Cameroon Postal Service Corporation may mark the beginning of serious business.
It is almost certain that reforms in the postal sector in Cameroon are producing quite an undesirable effect, following the lazy take off of activities in certain structures such as the Cameroon Postal service corporation. Three years after its creation, what initially looked like a veritable spur in the balance and harmonious development of the postal network and services is almost becoming an illusion.
Recently, the Minister of Post and Telecommunication, Maximin Paul Nkoue Nkongo, posted some 1450 personnel of the Ministry to the corporation. Prior to this, the only thing which showed that the corporation was existing was the appointment of its three top-most administrators: board chairlady, General manager and his deputy. The general manager, Guillaume Ejangue is rather optimistic at the pace with which things are moving. According to him, he and his collaborators immediately went to work after their appointment.
“Cameroonians may not have felt the impact yet, but we think that we have been able to show them that we were already functional,” he said. His assertion is based on one major activity; the issuing of new stamps. Mr Ejangue however admits that they have been rather slow justifying that the postal sector is heavy and does not require rash actions. “Our action is slow and steady,” he said.
Despite the laxity in the corporation, authorities are quite aware of the task of making the enterprise more productive in the face of stiff competition from the private sector. To better withstand the competition, the General Manager is determined to build up an entrepreneurial spirit within his workers. Against this backdrop, he has launched a nation-wide census throughout the postal network to select workers who are ready to do the job that is expected of them. “We have been in the administration and most of the time, the roles are not the ones governing the private sector”, he said. To buttress his point, Mr Ejangue pointed to the fact that the number of workers in post offices for instance is not well defined. “we are obliged to define them as well as consider the qualification of the workers expected to hold posts of responsibilities”, he said. In the past, it was possible to find 10 people doing work that can conveniently be done by five people. In which case, there are people who are doing virtually nothing.
The posting of people to the corporation is not a final act. Mr Ejangue will still select the good ones from the lot and return the chaffs to their ministry of origin. “Ones I establish the final list of those I want, the rest of the personnel will be sent to the minister”, he said, adding that functionaries will stay. In other words the people who have been sent there cannot say with certainty that they are personnel of the corporation. As explained by the GM “in reality, the act only gives me a free hand to make my selection because till December this year, permanent workers will still be paid by the ministry of Finance and Budget”
That notwithstanding, what is really disturbing is the fact that since the corporation was created, no board meeting has been convened.
