By Ndi Eugene Ndi
The government has been on a wild goose chase trying to justify the hike in fuel prices that went into effect on Saturday, February 3 with the population groaning and expressing concern about the impact on their already strained budgets.
As part of frantic efforts to defend the hike that has sparked a wave of apprehension across the country, six members of government granted a joint press conference in Yaounde on Tuesday, February 6.
During the press conference at the Ministry of Communication, his colleagues of Finance Louis Paul Motaze, Labour and Social Security Gregoire Owona, Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atanga, Water Resources and Energy Gaston Eloundou Essomba as well as Transport Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe joined Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi in justification attempts.
In his opening remarks, the Minister of Communication and Government Spokesperson said a number of factors including the Russia-Ukraine crisis and other Subregional ramifications drove the fuel price adjustment.
Following the adjustments, pump prices for premium fuel known as Super and Gas Oil known as Diesel witnessed a 15% increase with the former now selling at FCFA 840 (up from 730) and the latter at FCFA 828 (up from 720) respectively since February 3.
The increase, the Government Spokesperson said, did not affect lamp oil (kerosene) which was maintained at FCFA 350 and domestic gas which was maintained at FCFA 6,500 for 12.5kg cylinder.
Saving money for other projects
In his address to the nation last December 31, President Paul Biya announced the removal of decades old petroleum subsidies saying the burden of the subsidies was weighing heavily on the state budget and considerably reducing the resources which Cameroon highly needs to meet the needs of its inhabitants.
Rene Sadi said following the increase in pump prices last year, the said subsidy that stood at FCFA 1,000 billion in 2022 was cut to FCFA 640 billion in 2023. This means that with an eventual complete removal of the subsidy, the state will save FCFA 1,000 billion.
The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, said money that will be generated from the removal as well as eventual elimination of subsidies will be used to finance development projects the country badly needs.
“With FCFA 1,000 billion we will build a bigger dam than Nachtigal, we will no longer have a problem with the auto route from Douala to Yaoundé, we will complete with the construction of a dam that we want to launch, the Kikot dam,” Motaze said.
For now though, the subsidies have not been completely eliminated, according to the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana.
“The state pays FCFA 4,713 on each bottle of cooking gas that a household buys at FCFA 6,500 and FCFA 293 per liter of kerosene,” Minister Atangana said describing the subsidy as laudable support to households. He said if the subsidy was not there, the amount the state pays will add to the actual cost price of the widely used fuels.
The Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe admitted that the increase will have an impact on the population but warned against any moves by transporters to unilaterally increase fares. To him, any increase can only be effected after consultations with different stakeholders.
The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Gregoire Owona who said consultations were underway with the different trade unions supported his statement.
Putting the cart before the horse
In what the government said were measures to reduce the burden of the hike on citizens, it announced the increase of the basic salaries of civil servants by 5%. It said it will dialogue with the public and private sectors on minimum guaranteed wage which currently stands at FCFA 41, 875. Still as part of measures to cushion the burden of the fuel price hike on the citizenry, the government announced the reduction of certain tax and customs duties in the road transport sector.
But while the announced measures are yet to materialize, the population is already bearing the brunt of the hike reason observers say the adjustment was putting the cart before the horse and the justification is a wild goose chase.
Regarding the increase in civil servants’ salaries, Motaze said all calculations have been done at the level of the Ministry of Finance for the adjusted salaries to flow by end of February but observers are of the opinion the salary increment would have been effective before the fuel price increase.
First published in NewsWatch newspaper No 169 of Tuesday February 13, 2024.
