Composition Of Committee Working To Create A Micro Finance In South Region, Sparks Controversy

Micro Finance Controversy in Cameroon’s South

President of the committee questions whether elite of South Region are prohibited from creating micro finance. Says out of over 400 micro financial institutions in Cameroon, only six are in South Region. But controversy comes from the fact that some GMs of public corporations and senior civil servants are at the forefront.

A project by an association of some elite of the South Region known as PATRONAT SUD to create a Category 2 Micro Financial Institution, or what is commonly known as Credit Union in the Anglophone Regions, has sparked a controversy on social media. This has drawn an angry reaction from the President of the association, Daniel Claude Abate.

It should first of all be noted that information about the association, Patronat Sud, and its project to create a Category 2 micro finance, is contained in a document that was signed by the President of the association on April 30, 2023, and which was apparently meant for a restricted milieu. The document, which leaked on social media, was titled: “Decision No. 01/PSUD of April 2023 on the designation of members of a committee to put in place a Category 2 Micro Finance of PATRONAT SUD” (my own rough translation).

Members of the Committee are as follows:
PRESIDENT: Daniel Claude Abate.
VICE PRESIDENTS: Patrice Melom, Alain Olivier Mekulu, Cyril Edou Alo’o, Philemon Zoo Zame, Andre Caroline Mebande, Daniel Olle Olle, Bonaventure Mvondo Assam, Martin Bile Bidjang, Alain Ngondi, Elissar Mbang Ekoutou, Joel Monefong.
TECHNICAL ADVISERS: Valentin Mbozo’o, Lucien Piado, Jean .Ebe – Evina, Sandrine Djummo.
MOBILIZATION OF DIASPORA AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS: Martin Bile Bidjang (Asia), Jocelyne Essam (Europe), Daniel Mendjo Me Ze (USA).
COMMUNICATION: Rawul Simplice Minko, Thierry Ekoutou, Bertrand Nkoa.
SECRETARIES: Marie Y. Ekoutou, Me Francis Ebiang’ne.
MEMBERS: Constant Metou’ou, Pauline Ndoumou, Jan Paul Mbia, Francis Abessolo, Elise Meka, Daniel Medou, Tim Zo’onyaba, Angeline Akoa, Marie Therese Abenkou.

Why The Controversy?

The popular France-based Cameroonian whistle-blower, Boris Bertolt, for example, pointed out and questioned: “On peut constater qu’y figure des functionaires de l’Etat ou encore des directeur genereux. Ou ont ils pris l’argent?” (That is, he rightly pointed out that the list of members of the committee features senior civil servants and even General Managers of State Corporations. He questioned the sources of the money to create the micro finance.)

To put it more clearly, we are talking here about General Managers of State Corporations or public companies, and senior civil servants. Let’s look at the first three Vice Presidents, for example. Patrice Melom is the General Manager of the Port Authority of Kribi, or better still, he is the General Manager of Kribi Port. Alain Olivier Mekulu is the Managing Director of the National Social Insurance Fund commonly known as CNPS. The third name is Cyrille Edou Alo’o, the Director of Budget in the Ministry of Finance. These are members of the committee that are working on the project of Patronat Sud to set up a Category 2 Micro Finance.

Even the first name for Communication is Rawul Simplice Minlo, the Director of Communication at Port Authority of Douala or Douala Port. Among members are people like Jean Paul Mbia who is a Director in the Ministry of Higher Education.

As for the President of the Committee, Daniel Claude Abate, who is also President of Patronat Sud, he presents himself as the President of an association of economic operators in Cameroon known as ‘Mouvement des Enterprises du Cameroun’ MECAM (Movement of Cameroon Enterprises). But for some 15 or more years today that Abate has been passing around for the President of MECAM, no meeting of the association’s general assembly has ever been held. The fact of the matter is that MECAM is a Government creation that is used for Government propaganda to what a credible organization like GICAM would not accept to do. That is why only CRTV invites Abate.

President Of Patronat Sud Reacts

Meanwhile, following the strong criticisms made on social media about some members of the committee designated by Patronat Sud to work on the project to set up a micro finance in the South Region, Daniel Claude Abate, who instead presented himself as President of MECAM, came out with a lengthy reaction posted on social media, accusing the critics of what he termed disinformation. He lashed out at what he further termed sterile and negative criticisms.

Abate said Cameroon has over 400 micro finance institutions, with over 100 of them based on the same socio-economic model projected by Patronat Sud in its micro finance project. “Thus we are not inventing anything new. There is nothing particular about our project. Where is thus the scandal! Which Law or Republican principle discriminates against us, or bans us (elite of the South) from putting at the service of our population and small economic operators, a micro finance!” Abate fumed.

The President of Patronat Sud asserted that there are currently over 400 micro financial institutions in Cameroon, and that the South Region counts only six, and more so only one of the six is in Category 2. “So why all the noise about a micro finance project in the South?” he questioned. He said the population both in towns and villages of the South need the micro finance that Patronat Sud is setting up. He said as long as PATRONAT SUD meets up with the conditions set by the Ministry of Finance and COBAC to create a micro finance, they do not need the appreciation or approval of whosoever to go ahead with their project. Abate said the negative criticisms on social media only makes them more determined to see the micro finance project succeed, and that the people of the South Region are proud of their elite. He proudly disclosed that members of the Executive Bureau of Patronat Sud have by their personal efforts or means already raised 2/3 of the capital required to launch the Category 2 Micro Finance.

Abate Evaded The Real Issue

Meanwhile, the President of Patronat Sud in his reaction evaded the real issue that sparked the controversy over their micro finance project. Nobody says that a number of elite from the South Region do not have the right to come together to set up a micro finance or even a commercial bank. As I said earlier, the problem is with a particular category of personalities that are conspicuously involved, or better still are at the forefront of the micro finance project in the South Region. That is, the General Managers of State companies and Directors in the Public Service. That is the problem. It is not because those personalities hail from the South Region. There is supposedly a text in this country that prohibits public servants from doing business.

Imagine hearing that a group of Northwest elite are working on a project to set up a micro finance, and when you come across the list, you see names like Edwin Fongod (Managing Director of Customs), Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi Achu (General Manager of CAMTEL), Sylvester Moh Tangongho (Director of Treasury), Nchechuma Banla Nchetievie (Director of Human Resources at the Doula Port Authority or Douala Port).

One thing is certain, and it is that the reaction of Cameroonians including those of Northwest Region, will be the same. People will cry scandal. There will be all sorts of suspicions, speculations, allegations, and so on. This of course is because of the posts that these personalities occupy in the public service and public companies. It is true that many big men of other regions in the public service and State corporations are involved in different forms of economic activities. But they do it secretly. Not in the flagrant, arrogant, and provocative way in which some elite of the South have set out, more so to create a Category 2 Micro Finance.