University staff among those axed in ghost worker crackdown

Some 1,172 public servants in Cameroon, including employees in higher education institutions who have been perpetually absent from their posts but still earning salaries from the state, have been fired.

A statement by Cameroon’s Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, Joseph Le, issued on Monday 18 November said their dismissal followed directives dating back to July this year by Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute which called for more stringent control of public servants to halt the rising trend of ghost workers.

The minister said the absentee state workers failed to heed a final call to show up for work in not less than 15 days after the list of absentees was published last October.

“We published the list of absentee workers after a state personnel census was conducted following the prime minister’s instructions in July. They were given two weeks’ additional time to show up but they failed to heed the call,” Le said on state radio.

The criminal act, punishable by law, swells the government payroll, the minister said.

University workers

Absentee workers in higher education institutions such as the universities of Yaoundé I and Douala were also warned of dismissal if they failed to show up.

In a statement issued on 21 October, University of Douala rector Magloire Ondoa revealed the absence of 80 staff members in his institution following the government census.

He ordered them to report to their posts within 15 days or face dismissal by the government.

Media reports claimed absenteeism in the higher education sector was rooted in the surging emigration of teachers and lecturers to countries like Canada and the United States in search of better opportunities.

Higher education officials say the staff shortage in state universities, especially the newly created universities of Bertoua, Ebolowa and Maroua, has been a major challenge.

“The government is aware of staff shortages in state universities and efforts are afoot to bridge the gap and improve working conditions, Secretary General in the Ministry of Higher Education Wilfred Nyongbet Gabsa said at the installation of some newly appointed staff at the University of Yaoundé I on 29 October.

“Recruitment of new lecturers as instructed by the head of state has been ongoing as well as movements of other staff from one university to another to bring in fresh perspectives for improved quality,” he said.

A prime ministerial decree of 22 October appointed new staff and transferred others from different state universities to fill gaps and shortages triggered by the registered absences after the state census.

Migration abroad

Officials of the National Union of Higher Education Teachers, abbreviated as SYNES in French, have also blamed the shortage of lecturers in state universities on continuous migration abroad.

“We cannot blame lecturers for seeking better opportunities elsewhere. The government has to do the needful to keep these lecturers steady within the country,” Firmin Moutil, SYNES national secretary for communication, told University World News.

According to media reports, the national executive bureau of SYNES on 16 October, a week after the beginning of the academic year, railed over the perilous working environments in state universities.

They enjoined the government to improve the working conditions of lecturers and pay due bonuses.

“There is no question that the standards of university education in Cameroon lag behind when compared with others in Africa. We are calling on the government to collaborate with the lecturers’ union, promote dialogue, provide the needed support to ensure universities produce original research,” the report quoted SYNES officials as saying.

A 2023 report by UNESCO also points to perilous working conditions and underfunding in higher education institutions in Africa, and calls for improvements to the teaching and learning environment.

“While there is an increase in demand for higher education, universities in the region are saturated and unable to provide an adequate learning environment, including for higher technical education. Higher education on the continent is currently underfunded at the national level, including investment in research and development, which stands at an average of 0.38% of GDP,” the report said.

Financial savings

Meanwhile, a medical academic in the private sector has lauded the government’s efforts to purge the civil service system of ghost workers that is costing the state a fortune.

“The process of eliminating ghost workers will save the government some financial resources to invest in strategic development projects in higher education and health,” Dr Nick Ngwanyam told University World News.

According to the press release from the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, the ongoing cleanup of ghost workers is the continuation of an operation by the government dubbed COPPE (Physical Counting of State Personnel, in English), that was launched in 2018. According to the Ministry of Finance, COPPE has removed about 10,000 ghost workers from the payroll since 2019, saving the state about CFA30 billion (about US$48 million) annually.

Cameroon officials say the process of purging the public service of ghost workers is part of the country’s bigger drive towards good governance and economic emergence.

“The quest for better governance as a pathway towards economic emergence prescribed by the head of state, Paul Biya, is ongoing. The higher education system is part of this drive,” Nyongbet told University World News.