Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
Also, Does The 2019 Presidential Decree To Reorganize The Port Authority of Douala (PAD), Which Gives PAD Powers To Negotiate And Sign Concessions Agreements, Also Gives The General Manager of PAD, CYRUS NGO’O, The Authority To Be Able To Cancel A Contract That Was Signed By The Gov’t? This Is The Main Question In The Crisis At The Douala Port.
The curiosity about the 10 year contract that was signed between the State of Cameroun represented by the Government, and SGS Scanning Cameroun, on March 2, 2015, is that the contract which was initially, supposed to end in 2025, will instead end in 2032. And that is what makes some people to cry out that the contract is a mafia. But it is always good to look at the terms of a contract, before drawing conclusions.
It should be noted that Section 3.1 of the contract that was signed between the Government and SGS, clearly states that the contract was supposed to enter into force or into application, as from the date of signature by both parties, which was March 2, 2015. But then Section 3.3 which talks about the duration of the contract, states that: “Ce contrat restera en vigueur pour une period de 10 ans a compter de la date de mise en operation effective du dernier scanner “. This means that the counting of the 10 year duration period of the contract, is actually supposed to start from the date that the last scanner effectively goes into operation at the Douala Port.
It should be noted that in line with the agreement between Cameroon and the SGS, the Swiss Company had to acquire and install a total of four container scanners at the Douala Port. And in accordance with Section 3.3 of the contract, the counting of the 10 year duration period of the contract, was not supposed to start on the date of the signature of the contract which was March 2, 2015, but rather on the date that the fourth and last scanner installed by SGS, effectively went into operation at the Port.
The Fourth And Last Scanner, Went Into Operation In 2022
Annex III of the terms of the 10 year contract that was signed between Cameroon and SGS on March 2, 2015, gives more details about the chronogramme of the installation of the scanners by SGS, which was tied to certain conditions. “Le deploiement des scanners se fera selonle calendrier suivants. Installation et mise en service des 4 scanners au Port de Douala au plus tard le 31 Decembre 2015. A condition que le Gouvernement ait mis des espaces necessarires a disposition de la SGS au plus tard le 30 Juin, et ait rempli ses obligations figurant a l’article 5 du contrat, relative au Port de Douala”.
This means that SGS accepted in the contract that it would install the four scanners at the Douala Port latest December 31, 2015. But there were conditions for this to happen, one of which was that the Government had to put at the disposal of SGS, the necessary space for the company to install at the Douala Port, latest June 30, 2015. Also, the Government had to fulfill its own obligations that feature in Section 5 of the contract related to the Douala Port. As aforementioned, the fourth and last scanner went effectively operational at the Douala Port in 2022, that is, as many as seven years after the contract was signed. In line with the terms of the contract that both parties signed, it was thus in that 2022, that the two parties started counting the 10 year duration period, and so the contract will instead end in 2032 (2022 – 2032).
Conditions In The Contract Under Which The Gov’t Can Annul It
The question is whether the Government, partly through the Port Authority of Douala, fulfilled on time its own obligations, in the contract, that would have enabled SGS to install all the four scanners at the Douala Port latest December 31, 2015. It does not seem so. It should be noted that Section 3.4 and Section 4 of the contract that was signed by the Government and SGS on March 2, 2015, clearly stated that Government could cancel the contract with SGS, and the conditions under which that could be done, were clearly outlined. Logically, the fact that the Government did not annul the contract, and that PAD did not also officially raise any complaint then, about the delay by SGS to complete the installation of the container scanners at the Douala Port, meant that SGS was not the cause of the delay.
Some sources attribute part of the culpability for the delay to install the scanners, to the management of PAD, precisely the General Manager, Cyrus Ngo’o, who coincidentally was appointed General Manager of PAD in that 2015. The sources allege that Ngo’o and his ‘god –father’ at the Presidency, had been scheming for quite sometimes to pus out SGS from the Douala Port, and have it replace by their own choice. And so the management of PAD allegedly made things difficult for SGS to install at the Douala Port, and so contributed to the delay.
When in the contract, it was for example stated that the Government would put at the disposal of SGS Cameroun, the necessary space to install the four scanners at the Douala Port, it, was of course for PAD that manages the Port, to do so on behalf of Government. But then since the management of PAD reportedly did not want SGS Cameroun to succeed in its activities at the Douala Port, so as to find an excuse to push it out and bring in their own choice (operator), they did not want to collaborate with the Swiss Company. This was under the false claim that SGS Cameroun was not respecting the General of PAD, because the company signed its contract with the Government, and not with PAD.
The 2019 Decree On The Reorganization Of The Port Authority Of Douala
Meanwhile the document that members of the Camp of the General Manager of PAD, Cyrus Ngo’o, including his lawyers, have been claiming that gives PAD’s General Manager legal authority to sign a new contract or concession agreement with Transatlantic D, to take over merchandise inspection operation at the Douala Port from SGS Scanning Cameroun, is Presidential Decree No. 2019 /034 of 24 January, 2019, on the reorganization of the Port Authority of Douala. In that decree which was of course signed by President Biya, PAD among other things is given the authority to negotiate and sign contracts or concession agreement s with partners, to operate at the Douala Port.
But what many observers cannot understand, is why the Camp of the General Manager of PAD in this crisis, especially the ‘propaganda officers’ and even the lawyers of PAD, have been refusing to understand that the 2019 decree , does not give the General Manager of PAD the power to cancel a contract that was signed by the Government.
Senior Barrister, Achille Leudjo’s Take On The Issue
In a debate on the crisis at the Douala Port over Equinoxe TV in Douala, in the evening of Wednesday, February 4, 2026, Senior Barrister, Achille LEUDJO (senior member of the SDF Party), who is neutral in crisis at the Douala Port, said he found himself in an uncomfortable situation of being forced to express disappointment in public or during the programme, against a junior colleague defending PAD, because of the misinformation , or better still, disinformation he was propagating in the course of the programme. Barrister Leudjo who was uncomfortable that the junior colleague repeatedly read some articles in the 2019 Presidential Decree in defense of his argument that the General Manager of PAD has the power to throw out SGS Scanning Cameroun from the Douala Port, and sign a new contract with Transatlantic D, was finally forced to tell the junior colleague that he was misleading the public.
Barrister Leudjo explained that the State of Cameroon, which Government represents in the contract with SGS, is sovereign. He said there is no country in the world, where the General Manager of a State owned company, can have the power to cancel a contract that, was signed by the Government of that country. Barrister Leudjo noted that more so, the 2019 decree came after the Government had already signed the contract with SGS Cameroun, back in 2015.
Then followed the issue of the duration of the 10 year contract that the Government signed with SGS in 2015, that the Camp of the General Manager of PAD has also been insisting was supposed to end last year. Barrister Achille Leudjo pointed out that both the Government and SGS Cameroun, which signed the contract, are saying that in line with the terms of the agreement, the counting of the 10 year period effectively started in 2022, when the fourth and last scanner was installed by SGS.
More so, there are provisions in the contract that gives the Government the right to annul the contract, if SGS fails to respect the terms. The fact that the Government, has, not done so, means that there is no problem, and that the delay to install the fourth and last scanner, was not the company’s fault. PAD which was not a party in the contract that was signed on March 2, 2015, has no right to annul it.
It Is Difficult To Understand PAD In This Affair
It should be noted that Port Authority of Douala has a Legal Affairs Department. Some of the arguments, or things, that the management and lawyers of PAD, are saying about the contract that the Government signed with SGS Cameroun, give the impression that they are just being mischievous. They clearly lack a concrete reason to justify why the management of PAD, went ahead to sign a concession agreement with Transatlantic D, for the company to take over the container inspection (scanning) operation from SGS Cameroun at the Douala Port, when the contract that the Government signed with SGS is still in force or is still valid.
How for example can PAD that was definitely one of the first to have received a copy of the contract that the Government signed with SGS Cameroun on March 2, 2015, be insisting that the 10 year contract ended in March 2025. Yet they certainly know so well the details of the contract, and the fact that the last container scanner that SGS installed, effectively went operational in 2022 and not in 2015. Why should PAD even continue to insist that the contract has ended, when the Government that signed the contract with SGS, says it has not yet ended!
