Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
The Suspension Is Last Chance For These Cameroonians Suspected To Have Abandoned Their Jobs, And Left The Country, While Still Receiving Salaries, To Physically Show Up In Yaounde, And Present Concrete Proofs Of Effective Presence . This Operation Started Some Months Ago With the First Phase Handled By The Minister of Public Service, With A List Of Over 10,000 Civil Servants.
The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, has in a communiqué (No. 000 1490 MINFI/CAB) that was signed on September 15, 2026, announced that the salaries of a total of 5,971 suspected ‘ghost’ civil servants, will be suspended for the months of September and October 2026 as a conservative measure, to permit those persons concern to physically show up at the ministry in Yaounde, to clarify their situation. The 5,971 persons are civil servants that are suspected to have abandoned their jobs and left the country, but have dishonestly continue to receive their salaries for no job done. Most of the,5,971 persons, are said to be teachers of different categories.
Minister Motaze has called on all those concern, that is, the suspected ‘ghost’ civil servants, to come to the Ministry of Finance, precisely to “Direction de la Depense de Personnel et des Pensions” (DDPP), Doors No. 117,225 or 235 of ‘Batiment A’, to clarify their situation. Each of them should come along with three items or documents: 1) Photocopy of his or her passport. 2) The motive or reason why he or she travelled out of the country. 3) Attestation of Effective Presence at work issued less than three months ago, and duly established or issued by the competent administration. The minister explains that the documents to be presented will enable the competent services to examine the case of each individual, and take a fair decision.
In the communiqué, the Finance Minister discloses that the September and October salaries of the 5,971 persons concern will be allocated to the Pay Master General (Public Treasury) in Yaounde 1 to temporary keep. He explains that when the file of each of the persons concern is examined by the competent services, and are convinced that he or she is effectively at work, the person will be officially sent to the Pay Master General, for his September and October Salary to be paid.
The minister has warned that after October 31, 2026, any of the 5,971 persons that would not have provided the required proofs of effective presence at work, will be considered as having abandoned their work, and their names suspended from the pay list of State employees or civil servants. The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, has thus invited all those concern, to take all necessary dispositions to clarify their situation before the October 31, 2026 deadline. The minister has also stated that the communiqué serves as official notification to all those concern.
Information Provided By Emi / Immigration Service
Is should be note that the information about the suspected ‘ghost’ civil servants, or better still, their names, were given to the Government by the Emi / Immigration Service . The information is collected by Emi / Immigration officers (Police) at international airports in the country, and at Cameroon’s borders by the frontier police. Cameroon shares boundaries with a number of countries which include Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Gabon, Congo Brazaville and Central Africa Republic. The 5971 persons are civil servants who legally left the country through the international airports and frontier posts, but which the record of the Emi / Immigration Service showed that they did not return to the country. The names are compiled and presented to the government, as part of government’s efforts to identify and crackdown on ‘ghost’ civil servants.
Initial Criticisms
It would be recalled that when this present list was first compiled, there were a little over 10,000 names. The matter at that phase was being handled by the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, headed by Minister Joseph Le , a journalist by profession. Persons, whose names were on that list, were asked to provide proofs of their presence in the country, and especially their effective presence at work. That list raised quite some criticisms on the social media as well as in the traditional media, because some names on that list were well known personalities in the country, who are regularly seen around.
There was for example the name of Prof Eric Mathias Owona Nguini, who besides his job at the Yaounde 1 University, is a consultant in a TV programme, “Libre Expression’ that comes up every Sunday over Info TV in Yaounde. There was also the name of another well- known personality and university don, Prof Viviane Madeleine Ondoua Biwole, an expert on management, who is also another face that appears regularly in the media. Questions were asked as to how the Emi/Immigration Service, could at times take note only when some persons leave the country, but do not take note when those persons return to the country through the same airports and frontier posts.
Questions were also asked as to how the authorities could not have identified the names of some of personalities that are regularly seen around, to the point of damaging their reputation by putting out their names as suspected ‘ghost’ civil servants, or better still, as civil servants suspected to have abandoned their jobs and left the country, while still dishonestly receiving their salaries.
The Last Stage
Whatever the case, many of those whose names were on that list reportedly met the competent authorities with required documents, clarified their situation, and their names were dropped from the list. After that phase, the Minister of Public Service then sent the list of the remaining names that either could not convincing justify their effective presence, or did not show up for one reason or the other, to meet the competent authorities to justify their effective presence at work.
In line with the text, the Ministry of Finance has given these 5,971 persons, the last chance or opportunity to physically show up with documents to justify that they are living in the country, and that they are effectively present at work. Those who fail to do so at this last stage will have their names suspended from government’s pay list.
