Celestin Tawamba And Protais Ayangma Finally Merge GICAM And ECAM To Produce GECAM

Celestin Tawamba And Protais Ayangma Finally Merge GICAM And ECAM To Produce GECAM

The decision by Tawamba and Ayangma to forcefully merge GICAM and ECAM, is also meant to settle old scores

There are three cases pending in court on the controversial decision to merge GICAM and ECAM

There are also indications that the Emmanuel Wafo Camp, which is strongly opposed to the merger, will either revive GICAM or create another employers’ organization

What is certain is that at the end of the day, the Gov’t will pay more attention to the organization that will have onboard a majority of big companies

The biggest business cartel in the country, Cameroon Employers’ Organisation commonly known by the French acronym, GICAM (‘Groupement Interpatronal du Cameroun’), which was created way back in the 1950s, is now considered by some of the members to be history. GICAM has finally been merged with an association, “Enterprises du Cameroun’, ECAM, that is, Cameroon Enterprises, to produce ‘Groupement des Enterprises du Cameroun’, GECAM, that is, Organization of Cameroon Enterprises.
The Constituent General Assembly of GECAM held in Douala on December 14, 2023, and set up an Adhoc Committee that has Barrister Eta Besong as President. Other members include Nelly Bakang, Olivier Ndontsop, Venessa Happi and Pierre Alaka Alaka. Critics say it is only when there is big problem with something, that an Anglophone is made President.
Meanwhile, economic operators in Cameroon, who agree with the above story that GICAM has been merged with ECAM to produce GECAM, are definitely members or supporters of what is now known as the Tawamba / Ayangma Camp. It should be noted that the Celestin Tawamba is the outgoing President of GICAM who has been masterminding the merger mafia, while Protais Ayangma is the Founding President of ECAM, who jointly plotted the merger deal with his friend, Tawamba.

The Camp Strongly Opposed To Merger

Other big economic operators in the country will simply dismiss the story of the merger of GICAM and ECAM as bullshit. These economic operators are certainly members or supporters of the Emmanuel Wafo Camp that, are strongly opposed to the idea to merge GICAM and ECAM. The Wafo Camp has all along strongly argued that if ECAM wants to join GICAM, it should simply be fused into GICAM which an umbrella organization. The Camp insists that it is out of the question to talk of merging GICAM and ECAM. Worth noting that the face of the Camp strongly opposed to the merger of GICAM and ECAM, Emmanuel Wafo, is, is better still, was the Chairman of the Economic and Enterprises Development Commission of GICAM. The Wafo Camp has all along argued that the merger arrangement is a flagrant violation of the Statutes of GICAM.
There are many big economic operators in the country that are members or supporters of the Wafo Camp, and include a household name like Andre Siaka. Some of them have openly identified themselves with the Wafo Camp. A large majority of expatriates that are members of GICAM are also said to be backing the Wafo Camp, though understandably, they are keeping away from the frontline of the fight between the two Camps. It should be noted that the matter of the controversial merger of GICAM and ECAM is in court. In fact there are three case files or three law suits pending in Douala Courts on the controversial issue, as the Emmanuel Wafo Camp is strongly contesting the merger. So it is clear that the merger decision forced through by Celestin Tawamba and Protais Ayangma, is in reality not a done deal, as the matter is in court.

GICAM – An Umbrella Organisation

Worth noting that that before the controversial merger of GICAM and ECAM, the former had some 1000 members, including a total of 27 associations affiliated to the organisation. There is for example the syndicate of industries in Cameroon (SYNDUSTRICAM) that is affiliated to GICAM. There is the syndicate of hotels, syndicate of building and construction companies, and so on. All these groups are affiliated to GICAM.
Also, not all companies, grougs or enterprises qualify to be members of GICAM. Over the years, it was clearly stated that for any enterprise to qualify to be become member of GICAM, it should among other things have an annual turnover of at least 100 million francs CFA. So for the proprietor of a hotel or a consultancy (firm) for example to qualify to become member of GICAM, the hotel or consultancy is supposed to be having an annual turnover of at least 100 million FCFA.

ECAM Was Mainly Comprised Of SMEs

One of the controversies of the decision to merge GICAM and ECAM, is that ECAM was a group of Small and Medium Size Enterprises, SMEs, while GICAM was comprised predominantly of big and medium size enterprises, with many operating on capitals that run into several billions francs CFA. To merge ECAM and GICAM thus poses a serious problem.
It would be recalled that when ECAM was created in 2009, the Founding President, Protais Anyangma, explained at a press conference that it had become necessary to create ECAM, because GICAM was ignoring the interest of SMEs, and focusing only on the interest of big enterprises. He noted that enterprises owned by Cameroonians are mostly the SMEs, because they do not have big funds or capital, while many big companies in Cameroon are multi – national companies. Worth noting, that the Founding Vice President of ECAM was Celestin Tawamba.
That is why it is contradictory that the same Protais Ayangma and Celestin Tawamba who in 2009 justified the reason for the creation of ECAM to take care of SMEs, have today forcefully merged the same GICAM and ECAM. Worthy of note that at the time of the controversial fusion of GICAM and ECAM, the President of ECAM said the group had 400 members.

The Mafia Behind The Decision To Forcefully Merge GICAM And ECAM

Meanwhile it should be noted that the controversial and forceful decision to merged GICAM and ECAM, is in reality more of a score settling issue. At the dawn of the 21st century, the President of GICAM was Andre Siaka, who then was the powerful General Manager of giant company,‘Societe Anonyme de Brasseries du Cameroun’, SABC. Siaka became the President of GICAM in the early 90s. By then there was no limitation to the terms of mandate.
In 2008 when he was midway into another mandate, Andre Siaka decided “for personal reasons” to step down as President of GICAM. Siaka’s Vice President was Protais Anyangma, who then was the General Manager of an Insurance company. When Siaka announced his resignation that was supposed to go into effect in a few months, Ayangma naturally thought that as Vice President, he was the person to take over the post of President. But unfortunately for Anyangma, Siaka had his own candidate to replace him in the post of President of GICAM. That candidate was Olivier Behle, the proprietor of a consultancy, who hailed from the Centre Region like Ayangma. Both Ayangma and Behle were members of the Siaka – led Executive.
It is not known why Siaka did not want Ayangma, who was his Vice President to replace him. But Ayangma got very disappointed and furious over Siaka’s decision. Suffice to say Olivier Behle ended up becoming the new President of GICAM. Protais Ayangma and his friend, Celestin Tawamba, stormed out of GICAM, and created ECAM in 2009. Ayamgma was President, while Tawamba was Vice President. But ECAM did not have the type of ‘weight’ they both wanted, since the members were predominantly small and medium size enterprises. They were unable to get some big companies to leave GICAM and join ECAM.

Tawamba Returns To GICAM, And Become President

A couple of years later, Celestin Tawamba left ECAM and returned to GICAM, where he was received as the prodigal son. Soon afterwards, the then President of GICAM, Andrew Fotso, who was less than a year in his first mandate, died abroad. It was a death that shocked GICAM, especially as Fotso was not an old man. The Vice President of GICAM was a French man, who was the General Manager of the French company, PHP, which runs the big banana plantations in Mbanga and Njonbe – Penja Sub – divisions. He very reluctantly took over as President of GICAM. But apparently uncomfortable also to be President of GICAM when he was an expatriate, the French man resigned a few months later “for personal reasons”. The 2nd Vice President was seemingly not interested to take over the post of President.
It was thus decided that there should be fresh elections at GICAM. Also, it was considered logical that the new President should be a Bamileke like the late Andre Fotso. But the death of Andre Fotso was so shocking that many Bamilekes in GICAM did not show interest to run for the post of President. Perhaps some people too were afraid that if they showed interest for the post, they could instead be suspected to have had a hand in the death of Fotso. Suffice to say Celestin Tawamba courageously went in for the post of President of GICAM in the election, and won.
In his speech, Tawamba among other things promised that he would work to bring back to GICAM, some of the members that had left for one reason or the other, so that all employers (companies) should all be members of one house, GICAM. Members of GICAM understood that Tawanba was talking about bringing back to the organization, people like his friend, Protais Ayangma of ECAM. The idea was welcomed by many. But throughout his first mandate as GICAM President, Tawamba did not say anything on that subject. It should be noted that after Andre Siaka left the post of President of GICAM in 2008, the Statute of the organization was modified, bringing in limitation on the mandate of the President. The duration of the mandate of the President of GICAM was to be four years renewable only once.

Controversial Merger Treaty

Meanwhile Celestin Tawamba was re-elected for the second and last mandate as President of GICAM. The second mandate was supposed to end in December 2023, that is, this month. But many members of GICAM were taken aback when on April 5, 2023 they saw on Tv that the President of the organization, Celestin Tawamba, and the President of ECAM, Protais Ayangma, had signed what was said to be a Merger Treaty between GICAM and ECAM. A strong opposition immediately emerged in GICAM against the merger treaty. Emmanuel Wafo and his Camp against the merger treaty, argued that, ECAM, was supposed to be fused into GICAM and not instead merged with GICAM to create a new organization.
But Tawamba and Ayangma who had seemingly prepared themselves well to push ahead and attain their goal at all cost, would not listen. A joint general assembly of GICAM and ECAM was held on July 11, 2023, to vote on the merger. Most members of GICAM opposed the merger mafia, dismissed the meeting as illegal, and boycotted it. Suffice to say at the end it was announced that 71.3 % of votes at the meeting went in favour of the merger of GICAM and ECAM.
This was then followed by the creation of the new organization to replace GICAM. It was at the Constituent Assembly of the new orgainsation which held on December 14, 2023 at the headquarters of GICAM in Douala, that it was made known that the name of the new organisation is ‘Groupement des Enterprises du Cameroun’, GECAM.
The event was attended by two members of Government, that is, the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, and the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Issa Tchiroma Bakary. It should be noted that the two ministers are regular visitors to GICAM, considering the missions of their ministries. The Finance Minister for example, said he came to present the 2024 State budget to members of GICAM, as has been the tradition. But Tawamba and his camp have been dishonestly trying to use the presence of the two ministers at the December 14 meeting, to mean Government’s support for the merger of GICAM and ECAM, and the birth of GECAM.

Plan To Revive GICAM

Meanwhile the Wafo Camp opposed to the merger of GICAM and ECAM, have made it clear that Tawamba cannot kill GICAM, and that they will revive GICAM. The Camp for now seems to be waiting for the rulings on the three cases in court, to know what step to take next. There are two possible scenarios here. If the court rulings states that the decision by the Tawamba Camp to merge GICAM and ECAM was illegal or irregular, the Wafo Camp that is opposed to the merger will insist that GICAM still exist, and will also insist that GECAM should pack and leave the headquarters of GICAM at Bonanjo, Douala, which it now occupies.
But if the rulings by the Douala Courts on the three cases, all confirm the legality of GECAM, by saying that the merger of GICAM and ECAM were done in respect of the statutes of GICAM, then the courts would have confirmed the legal existence of GECAM. In such a situation, the headquarters of GICAM would legally become the headquarters of GECAM. In such a situation too, it would also not be legally possible for the Wafo Camp to try to revive GICAM.
But from the look of things, the GICAM issue will be in court for a long time. It looks certain that the Camp that will lose the three cases that are currently pending in the Douala courts will go on appeal. The matter is likely to get to the Supreme Court in Yaounde. That is why though Plan A of the Wafo Camp is to revive GICAM, sources close to the Camp says they are also thinking of Plan B, which is to create a new employers’ organization.

Gov’t Has Not Taken Side In The GICAM Conflict, But – –

Meanwhile from all indications, the Cameroon Government has so far not taken side in the conflict between the two camps over GICAM, and it is unlikely to do so. That is a good decision by the Government. If tomorrow there are two employers’ organizations in the country, the Government will work with both. When Protais Anyangma and Celestin Tawamba stormed out of GICAM in 2008, the Government did not stop them from creating ECAM. After all, there is freedom of association in Cameroon.
So what will happen if the Emmanuel Wafo Camp ends up reviving GICAM or creating a new employers’ organization, is that the Government will work with the two organisations. But in such a situation Government will definitely pay more attention to the organization that will have a majority of the big companies, the interest of Government being the payment of taxes by these companies. So at the end of the day, Government’s interest will not be on the number of enterprises that each of the organisations has onboard.

Score Settling, Third Mandate

Many members of GICAM see the forceful merger of the organization with the small ECAM, as a plot by Celestin Tawamba and his friend, Protais Anyangma, to settle scores against those that ‘pushed’ them to leave GICAM in 2008. The two stormed out of GICAM in 2008, and created their ECAM in 2009. Tawamba returned to GICAM and soon took over the leadership of the organization, and towards the end of his second and last mandate, he and his friend, Ayangma, decided to force the merger of GICAM and their ECAM.
The Emmanuel Wafo Camp has also accused Tawamba of scheming to have a third mandate. It is interesting that Tawamba had to wait towards the end of his second and last mandate as President of GICAM, to bring up the issue of merger. Tawamba’s second and last mandate as President of GICAM ends this month (December 2023). It is said that he so much liked or enjoyed the post of President of GICAM, that he started looking for the possibility to have a third mandate. With GICAM and ECAM now merged to produce GICAM, it opens the way for Tawamba to run for the post of President, with the argument that GECAM is a newly created organization, and that his two term mandate at GICAM thus have nothing to do with GECAM. Well, is a matter of wait and see.

Running Cost Of The GICAM Headquarters

Meanwhile, if GICAM finally splits into two different organizations as it now looks likely, there will be a big fight over the ownership of the GICAM Headquarters at Bonanjo, Douala. But there will be another big problem to the Camp that will succeed to keep the GICAM Headquarters. It is the high running cost. There are quite a number of Departments as well as many permanent workers, including the Executive Secretary, at the GICAM Headquarters. So if the Camp that will succeed to keep the Headquarters does not have onboard a majority of the big companies in GICAM today, it will face a big problem to handle the monthly running cost of the GICAM Headquarters.
The Tawamba Camp which is currently occupying the GICAM Headquarters with their GECAM, would likely start feeling the pinch soon. 2024 is around the corner, and it is very likely that all those members of GICAM that are strongly against the merger of GICAM and ECAM will not pay their annual contributions to the Tawamba / Ayangma GECAM.