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FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
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INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 0002
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 YAOUNDE 001109 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/C INL/C 
STATE PASS MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP. 
PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS 
EUCOM FOR J5-1 AND POLAD YATES 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2017 
TAGS: PGOV KCOR PREL PINR CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: BOLD STROKE FOR COMPETENCE, 
ANTI-CORRUPTION IN NEW GOV'T 
 
REF: A. YAOUNDE 1090 
     ¶B. YAOUNDE 1068 (NOTAL) 
     ¶C. YAOUNDE 1036 (NOTAL) 
     ¶D. YAOUNDE 1012 (NOTAL) 
     ¶E. YAOUNDE 865 (NOTAL) 
     ¶F. YAOUNDE 732 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: Poloff Tad Brown for reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary.  President Biya on September 7 ordered a 
major cabinet reshuffle, dismissing 14 ministers -- including 
a number of the most notoriously corrupt and inept -- and 
refashioning two ministries to create a Ministry of Finance 
and a Ministry of Economy, Planning and Rural Development. 
This was the bold move many were waiting for, a stroke 
simultaneously against corruption and for competent 
governance.  Cameroon's deep-seated problems of corruption 
and governance cannot be uprooted by the stroke of the pen, 
even one so bold.  Nevertheless, this is possibly the most 
significant, promising government shakeup in Biya's 25 year 
tenure, and we are encouraged by the message it sends.  Para 
7 contains a full list of new positions; para 8 contains a 
full list of dismissed ministers.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C)  It was widely anticipated that Biya would make 
changes in the cabinet after the July elections for the 
National Assembly and municipalities.  Our own conversations 
with senior Government of Cameroon (GRC) officials and those 
reported to us by other diplomats (refs a-e) suggested that 
the shakeup would demonstrate Biya's seriousness in 
dismissing the most corrupt and inept officials in his 
government.  The new cabinet members were announced over 
GRC-owned CRTV radio during the Friday five o'clock news. 
The radio announcers were noticeably surprised by the 
significance of the news they were relaying, and the new 
government lineup dominated the weekend gossip and news talk 
circuits, prompting two newspapers to print special weekend 
issues headlining the changes. 
 
------------------ 
Against Corruption 
------------------ 
 
¶3.  (C)  Most discussion thus far has focused on the 
dismissal of Finance Minister Polycarpe Abah Abah, considered 
by many to be the poster child of grand corruption (ref f). 
Like Abah Abah, former ministers Urbain Olaguena Awono 
(Health) and Jean-Marie Atangana Mebara (Foreign Affairs) 
were perceived as generally competent, but thoroughly 
corrupt.  Equally corrupt but less competent was Paulin Abono 
Moampamb, the out-going Secretary of State for Public Works 
and former mayor of Yokadouma, who was allegedly given his 
cabinet post last year for a fee, without Biya's knowledge, 
to Mebara (when Mebara was in his previous post of Secretary 
General at the Presidency).  The dismissal of Augustin 
Kodock, former Minister for Planning and Rural Development 
and head of the Cameroon People's Union (UPC) party, was 
likely motivated by politics (the UPC returned no MPs to 
Parliament in the July elections), anti-corruption (Kodock 
was dogged by credible allegations of malfeasance and 
mismanagement), and competence (a septuagenarian in and out 
of government since the 1960s, Kodock was uninspiring as the 
dynamo of economic development).  Although Post had received 
nothing but positive reviews for the tenure of outbound 
Minister of Mines Charles Sale, a prominent Cameroonian 
commentator confided to poloff that Sale's dismissal was 
triggered by his habit of soliciting personal stakes in 
companies seeking concessions in Cameroon. 
 
-------------------------- 
Pro-Competence; Pro-Growth 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  As previewed, the shuffle also emphasized the need 
to select competent individuals, especially to head those 
ministries with key roles in Biya's stated goal of spurring 
economic growth and national development.  The Ministry of 
Economy and Finance (MINEFI) and the Ministry for Planning, 
Development and Technology were replaced with a Ministry of 
Finance (MinFin) and Ministry of Economy, Planning and 
Regional Development (MINEPRD).  Lazare Essimi Menye, 
previously the Delegate Minister for the Budget in MINEFI and 
well regarded by the donor community, was promoted to 
Minister of Finance.  Louis Paul Motaze, who takes up the 
newly created MINEPRD portfolio, is widely respected for his 
leadership in salvaging the National Social Insurance Fund. 
 
YAOUNDE 00001109  002 OF 003 
 
 
Incoming Foreign Minister Henri Eyebe Ayissi was most 
recently Inspector General for Electoral Issues at the 
Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization 
and had been the Minister for Town Planning in the 1990s, 
while still in his 30s.  He is generally reputed to be a 
relatively clean, competent bureaucrat. 
 
--------------------- 
Politics Plays a Role 
--------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  The motivation behind many of the moves remains 
murky, but undoubtedly politics played a part.  Jean Nkuete 
continues as Minister of Agriculture but gains the title of 
Vice Prime Minister (already held by Minister for Justice 
Amadou Ali), most likely in recognition for the support his 
native West Province provided to Biya's Cameroon People's 
Democratic Movement (CPDM) party in the July elections.  Ama 
Tutu Muna, with whom we worked closely in her position as 
Secretary of State for Commerce, was promoted to Minister for 
 
SIPDIS 
Culture likely as a return for the CPDM's strong showing in 
her native Northwest Province.  Reputed as a CPDM party thug 
in the Northwest and tarnished by his involvement in a 
banking scandal, Paul Atanga Nji is the most apparent "bad 
apple" in the new team, likely given a ministerial portfolio 
at the Presidency to reward his CPDM activism in the 
Northwest Province.  Many September 10 headlines focused on 
the political element of the shuffle, saying Biya had sacked 
Abah Abah, Olaguena, and Mebara because of their alleged 
leadership of a secretive group working to determine Biya's 
successor (referred to as the "G11" in reference to 2011, the 
expected end of Biya's tenure). 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Comment: Finally, A Sign of Political Will 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (C)  Although we bear no illusions about the resilience 
of Cameroon's corruption and governance problems, the 
September 7 personnel changes were better for Cameroon and 
for USG objectives in Cameroon than we had dared hope. 
Arrests could follow, as many government critics say that 
firing corrupt officials is not enough -- the government must 
recover their ill-gotten gains.  Some problematic members of 
the government remain in their positions, but several of the 
newcomers are well-known to us and are welcome additions. 
Most significant is the fact that Biya has acted, more 
decisively than he ever has, to root out corruption and 
instill improved governance, especially economic governance, 
in Cameroon.  End comment. 
 
¶7.  (U)  Begin list of new ministers/portfolios added in 
September 7 Presidential Decree (updated list of the full 
government will follow septel): 
 
--Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural 
Development: Jean NKUETE 
 
--Minister of Finance: Lazare ESSIMI MENYE 
 
--Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development: 
Louis Paul MOTAZE 
 
--Minister of External Relations: Henri EYEBE AYISSI 
 
--Minister of Culture: Ama Tutu MUNA 
 
--Minister of Industry, Mines, and Technological 
Developpement: Badel NDANGA NDINGA 
 
--Minister of Transport: Haounaye GOUNOKO 
 
--Minister of Public Health: Andre MAMA FOUDA 
 
--Minister of Communication: Jean Pierre BIYITI BI ESSAM 
 
--Minister of State Property and Land Affairs: M. ANONG A 
DIBEME Pascal 
 
--Delegate Minister, Ministry of Economy, Planning and 
Regional Development: Abdoulaye YAOUBA 
 
--Delegate Minister, Ministry of Finance: Pierre TITTI 
 
--Minister at the Presidency of the Republic: Paul ATANGA NJI 
 
 
YAOUNDE 00001109  003 OF 003 
 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of Industry, Mines, and 
Technological Development: Gentry FUH CALISTUS 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of Public Works: Hans NYETAM 
NYETAM 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of Forests and Wildlife: 
Joseph Roland MATTA 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of Transport: Oumarou MEFIRO 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of Basic Education: Andre 
MANGA EWOLO 
 
End list of new cabinet portfolios added in September 7 
Presidential Decree. 
 
 
¶8.  (U)  Begin list of 15 ministers dismissed in the 
September 7 shuffle. 
 
--Minister of State, Minister of Culture: Ferdinand Leopold 
OYONO 
 
--Minister of State, Minister of Planning and Rural 
Development: Augustin Frederic KODOCK 
 
--Minister of State, Minister of External Relations: Jean 
Marie Atangana MEBARA 
 
--Minister of Transport: Dakole DAISSALA 
 
--Minister of Economy and Finance: Polycarpe ABAH ABAH 
 
--Minister of Industry, Mines, and Technological Development: 
Charles SALE 
 
--Minister of Public Health: Urbain OLAGUENA AWONO 
 
--Minister of State Property and Land Affairs: Louis Marie 
ABOGO NKONO 
 
--Minister of Communication: Ebenezer Njoh MOUELLE 
 
--Minister Delegate, Ministry of Communication: Gervais MONDO 
ZE 
 
--Minister Delegate, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Charged 
with Programs: Daniel Njankouo LAMERE 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of Public Works: Abono Paulin 
MOAMPAMB 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy and Finance: Denis 
OUMAROU 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of State Property and Land 
Affairs: Jean Claude ETOGO 
 
--Secretary of State, Ministry of Agrilculture: Abdoulaye 
ABOUBAKARY 
 
End list of 15 ministers dismissed in the September 7 cabinet 
reshuffle. 
NELSON