EDITORIAL, The Herald
The announcement last week by Ephraim Inoni of bold and enterprising cost-saving moves within the government are in every respect praiseworthy, late though they are. The next challenge is to make sure they work. And if they work that will redeem his lacklustre tenure. The arguments and timing are perfect, but rivals and enemies are permanently at work. Paul Biya has every interest in giving this new initiative all his backing. He himself must try for once to show exemplary leadership by admitting that the present state of the economy cannot truly sustain his ideas of a big president. His very expensive trips abroad, the balloon size of the government and the
excessive number of diplomatic missions abroad, etc. These all require drastic trimming.
Outside their fellowship value, the monthly meetings of members of government are of little use. It does not formulate or discuss policy. And questions are not usually asked on reports that select ministers present on aspects of their work.
But the March-end meeting that took place last week was surprisingly different. Ephraim Inoni broke free of the humdrum of his office and announced ground-breaking policy initiatives!
In one fell swoop Paul Biya’s PM announced an end to the purchase of new vehicles, a scrupulous review of public expenses, and a wholesale downward revision of the official price list of supply items.
Furthermore, ministers would have to limit their foreign travel, and when they do so their entourage must also be kept to barest minimum.
These measures were in a bid to cut down drastically on the running cost of the government.The measures were déjà-vus. Peter Musonge, Inoni’s immediate predecessor had tried without much success to urge Biya’s deeply corrupt and free-wheeling regime to reconsider its wasteful practices.
There is no reason why it took Inoni so long to try to resume cost-cutting in government, a very standard management objective, given the opportunity he had to work towards debt-cancellation (in the HIPC initiative) shortly after he took office in December 2004.
Better late than never, though. The measures now appear more opportune with the government sweating it out to bring down the cost of living. The measures were instantly hailed as easily the most significant policy initiative of Inoni’s lacklustre tenure, “if only he will stay long enough to implement them.”
During last week’s ministers’ meeting Luke Magloire Atangana Mbarga, trade minister presented his report of a losing battle he is having with local suppliers of foodstuffs and essential commodities.
For most of the items the price reductions are insignificant. Even the salary increase will turn out
to be insignificant for the lowest earners. It is easy already to see swelling public anger arising from a sense of disappointment.
To strengthen the purchasing power of civil servants a better approach probably would have been to grant a far greater increase at the bottom and gradually decrease it on the way up towards the topmost salaries. That approach would also address the important problem of the wide gap between the two ends of the salary scales.
On price reductions, the government should have demonstrated its goodwill by making a sacrifice on the cost of fuel which is an important input factor in the cost of all goods and services.
For food items like rice and fish, a suggested approach would be to negotiate prices but with big
foreign suppliers. Some countries like the
The US and
By and large the problem of increasing prices is only the direct consequence of demand and supply, which we learn from basic economics – no more. The answer is to provide more so as to lower the prices.
It is, of course, clear that we in
But the catch is that as a country we have not worked hard enough to provide those food items we could easily grow in more than sufficient quantities.
The reason is pure neglect. It will never be clear why Paul Biya deliberately left to die all those
integrated rural development projects initiated by his predecessor, Ahmadou Ahidjo Ahidjo had it clear that it was important for Cameroon to be self-sufficient in food production.
Ahidjo tagged his agricultural policy the ‘green revolution’ and organised a five-yearly agricultural
show to promote this praiseworthy endeavour. But Biya killed it all.
To reverse the present trends, the government must start a vigorous agricultural policy. There is plenty of fertile land all across the country, the people are hard-working and there is good dependable market for the export of excess production.
The government should order or seek aid of cheap genetically modified animal feed to boost animal production. In a fraction of the time of traditional methods of grazing and wasteful transhumance, cattle can be raised and plenty of cheap beef placed on the market.
Cost-cutting and the elimination of waste are an integral part of efficient management. For its own
sake it is desirable. Now it is urgent in order to free up funds needed to pick up the 8 billion fcfa
Essimi Menye says the increase in salaries will cost, money which was not budgeted.
Inoni has every reason to make sure this new policy works. The arguments are strong and the time seems ripe. He should get to work without delay before his enemies and rivals figure out how to frustrate him. A report on how much will be saved might also help to sustain the interest of the president, his unpredictable boss whose support is never so sure.
For cost-cutting to succeed and have a long-term effect it must be thorough-going and become part of the management habit of the entire public sector, which it is presently far from.
It should not be something limited to some sectors or people. Inoni as head of government must be an example but should also be seen as being exemplary.
It is regrettable that Paul Biya refuses to lead by example whereas it is example that truly defines
leadership. The president’s lifestyle is nothing short of a scandal in the reckless use of public funds for a country which has severe poverty problem.
How does Paul Biya justify to his own conscience that he and his family must hire a wide-body
intercontinental aircraft to fly them several times a year abroad at the staggering cost of about 1 billion fcfa per journey?
The size of the government is too large and
These and many more areas of cost-saving could free substantial funds to be used to fight inflation and stimulate productivity, and give a whole new boost to our poor ailing country.
The masses are more likely to bear their pains patiently when they see that the government is itself embarked upon a thorough-going campaign of waste control and a prudent lifestyle for its officials up to the highest.
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