Could 3000 Cameroonians be taking salaries from the government when they are not officially employed?

Chancel Ako Takem, Permanent Secretary of Administrative Reforms at the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, talks on the ongoing revamp of the State pay roll.
Is April 29 deadline not too short for over 3000 civil servants to identify themselves?

Chancel Ako Takem

The time is more than enough. The list for contract workers was published in August last year while that for civil servants was published in November last year. Both groups were given one week to present themselves with justification papers at their various ministries. The Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reforms later gave instructions that we should be lenient and we were lenient enough to extend the deadline to over four months to enable workers to clarify their situation. At this point, we are rounding up the process.

The current deadline given by the minister is the last opportunity to all whose salary has been suspended to show up and clarify their situation.  After April 29, 2016, we are going to move to the next stage which is engaging a disciplinary procedure at the level of the Permanent Disciplinary Board of the Public Service. This disciplinary procedure might lead to their dismissal from the Public Service.  

Since the publication of the list of doubtful civil servants, how many people have brought identification papers to clarify their situation?

When the first list of 10,000 contract workers was published, about 7000 contract workers were able to clarify their situation at their various ministries. The salary of such workers has not been suspended. We had a leftover of 3000 contract workers who did not present clarification documents and we do not even know where they are working. No ministry has recognised these 3000 workers. Concerning civil servants, a list of 14,000 doubtful civil servants was published and about 8,000 civil servants where able to clarify their situation at their various ministries. The files of these civil servants were forwarded to my department.

About 3800 civil servants have not clarified their situation. It is the salary of those who did not clarify their situation either as contract or civil servants that has been suspended and there are those concerned with the 29 April deadline. Since the salaries of over 3000 civil servants was suspended, only the Ministry of Public Contracts have written to my department with the files of two civil servants whose salaries have been suspended. Apart from this, we have not yet received any correspondence from any other ministry. I believe that maybe before 29 April deadline, we are going to receive more justification papers.

For those who have brought clarification documents, when will their salaries be reinstated?
These documents have to be examined. It is not just a matter of bringing justification papers and salaries being reinstated. We will examine the files to know exactly where these workers have been since the list was published last year. We need to know why they are showing up only now. It is only when we have clarified many things that we will start thinking of reinstating their salaries. There is no time range given to do this and we are not in any rush.

The government has instructed us to have a mastery of the number of State workers and the equivalent payroll. We have to know if such people are effectively working and the documents attached to their files are authentic. We are informed that some people have succeeded to have fraudulent attestations of effective presence at work and that there are others who have taken flights to come and make themselves available and later go back. We are not in a hurry to examine the files; we are going to take our time.

Will such workers receive arrears of suspended salaries?
If it appears that the clarification documents of such workers are convincing, we are going to write to the Minister of Finance with the names of those concerned. Their salaries’ will be reinserted and arrears paid on all those months the salary was suspended.

When will SIGIPIES II effectively begin? 
Normally, it is supposed to start in July this year. The measure is in line with the transition from the current management of State human resources characterised by the existence of two softwares, notably the Integrated Computerised System of Human Resources, SIGIPES and Antelope. The new system will merge both softwares to bring into force SIGIPIES II. The Prime Minister instructed that only civil servants recognised by their user ministries to be transferred to the new computerised system. We are already at the end of the process which started early last year.

Source: Cameroon Tribune