The Minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, has announced an operation to clean up the personnel file of the National Park of Civil Engineering Equipment (Matgénie), a public company in the construction and public works sector in Cameroon, which is plagued by social tensions.

It will take place from 13 to 21 July 2022, under the responsibility of an ad hoc inter-ministerial committee, chaired by the Inspector General of Technical Affairs.

Each active staff member must bring his or her national identity card, employment contract, diploma that led to his or her recruitment, appointment or assignment documents, birth certificates of dependent children, marriage certificates and pay slip. Some of these documents or other specific ones are required for retired staff or the beneficiaries of deceased staff.

The said ministry  explains that this reorganisation of human resources and the production tool is one of the immediate measures taken following consultations with the various actors of the company. “This operation will lead to the control of the mass of human resources and the viability of the production tool. This should put Matgenie back on the path of profitability, a guarantee of regular payment of the rights due to staff,” says Emmanuel Nganou. Clearly, we can expect redundancies, demotions and transfers.

Before the launch of this operation of reorganization in fact, reveals Minpw, at the end of consultations conducted from 6 to 7 July 2022 with the management and social organs of this company, it appeared that the situation is messy. The production tool is inoperative; a situation that exposes the State, the sole shareholder called upon to support this company through subsidies and rescheduling of tax and social debts, to significant budgetary risks. All of this has led to recurrent mood swings among active and retired employees.

According to the 2020 report of the Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation (CTR) of Public Sector Companies and Establishments in Cameroon, Matgenie’s turnover is decreasing due not only to the obsolescence of the operating equipment, but also to cash flow tensions which have not allowed the execution of orders (road infrastructure maintenance contracts signed with the administration and private partners). Out of a total of 12.4 billion CFA francs for the year 2019, this company has only been able to carry out billable work to the tune of 1.35 billion CFA francs, i.e. a completion rate of 11%.

In this context of a precarious financial situation, personnel costs remain important and absorb 89.95% of the 2019 turnover. “This situation could eventually constitute a budgetary risk for the state if the trend is not reversed,” the CTR said. In addition, social peace is threatened due to the irregular payment of salaries, as well as the payment of social benefits.