Customs impounds eight truckloads of Nigeria-bound cocoa in Mamfe!.

The trucks were impounded in collaboration with soldiers operating in the administrative unit Monday June 19. Sources on the ground told The Guardian Post that two of the trucks were intercepted in the locality of Besongabang in Mamfe Central Subdivision.

Six other trucks, our sources added, were interrupted in Eyumojock and Ekok, two border localities in Eyumojock Subdivision. 

The interception of the eight trucks comes on the wake of rise in the cross border illicit trade, which has been stripping the state coffers of billions of FCFA. 

The thriving illicit cocoa export to neighbouring Nigeria in the South West Region, has been a hot potato on the plate of concerned government Ministries and related state structures. 

Gov’t bans cocoa export to Nigeria 

Distress signals from local processing companies on the alarming situation of the illicit trade, it should be recalled, was the main focus of an Inter-Ministerial meeting which the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, chaired in Yaounde, last week. 

The meeting, which was also attended by some top security and defense officials, we gathered, was to address the situation which is said to have reached a level where the existence of key local processing and exporting companies are seriously threatened as well as government revenue collection services. 

One of the major outcomes of the meeting was the ban on exportation of cocoa to Nigeria. The decision of the Minister of Trade was prompted by the increase in illicit exports of cocoa beans to Nigeria in recent months.

Prior to the meeting, the minister had sent a letter to the Governor of the South West on March 23, 2023, decrying the toll of illicit cocoa export to Nigeria was having on the country. 

Minister Mbarga Atangana, in the note, had underscored that his attention had been drawn to "the intensification, since the beginning of the current year, of the phenomenon of massive and fraudulent exports of our cocoa to Nigeria". 

The situation, the minister noted, “reflected in production statistics to our disadvantage, non-payment of export royalties and export duties, and currency evasion and foreign currency evasion”.

He said the illicit trade has made matters worse to the extent “…local cocoa-processing industries can no longer find the raw material they need to continue their operations”.

“Faced with such a situation, which in every respect is detrimental to the national economy, I have the honour of asking you to take all necessary measures, in application of the provisions of article 10, paragraph 2, of law N°2016/004 of 18 April 2016 governing foreign trade in Cameroon, to suspend, until further notice, the said exports,” he had instructed. 

Worth noting is the fact that his warnings came after similar alerts made by the Ministers of Finance and that of Territorial Administration. Minister Atanga Nji had instructor the South West Governor to adopt measures to put an end to the illicit trade. 

Cocoa actors finger gov’t 

Actors in the sector have blamed the disturbing situation on local administrative and security officers said to be working in complicity with those engaged in the illegal practice.

Local cocoa processing companies had complained to the government about lack of cocoa beans for their factories, pinpointing the need for urgent actions to check the situation, but findings show that the situation has not changed. 

They blamed the situation on the porous borders between Cameroon and Nigeria and the competitive prices charged by Nigerian buyers. 

Most of the key actors in the sector blamed government for failing to put an end to the cross border illicit trade that has worsened since the outbreak of the crisis in the North West and South West Regions of the country. 

Invest in Cameroon website reported that Kate Fotso, the Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Telcar Cocoa, a local trader for American Cargill and Cameroon's leading bean exporter, denounced government’s unwillingness to fight the phenomenon during the meeting. 

"For 30 years, we have seen a lack of will on the part of the government to solve this problem. The Nigerians come as far as Kumba, Mamfe. They use Cameroonians. The state can't tell us it doesn't have the means to fight this phenomenon," Invest in Cameroon quotes Kate Fotso as having denounced back in 2017 during a similar meeting. 

Manyu SDO summons meeting to address situation 

The Senior Divisional Officer, SDO of Manyu Division, Viang Mekala, is expected to have held a meeting yesterday to address the disturbing situation.

The administrative authority, had, in a letter with reference No G.38/57/3/236, signed June 19, a copy of which The Guardian Post stumbled on, summoned his collaborators for a meeting.

Expected to have attended the meeting were the Divisional Delegates of Commerce, that of Agriculture and Rural Development, all forces of law and order, Chief of National Cocoa and Coffee Board for Manyu, President of Cocoa Union, Chief of Bureau of Customs Main House Ekok, Chief of Customs Mobile Brigade of Mamfe-Ekok, among others. 

The agenda of the meeting, the SDO said, will “dwell on the execution modalities of the Circular Letter No. 0356 of 13 June 2023 of the Minister of Commerce relating to the prohibition on the exportation of cocoa to Nigeria”. 

Smugglers working with security officers, Amba fighters!

With the growing phenomenon, accusing fingers are now pointed at local administrative authorities and security officers for failing to implement instructions from different government ministers, but rather working in complicity with those involved in the illicit trade. 

Allegations are rife that those involved in the business are getting support from within the system. Those versed with the happenings on the ground are accusing local administrative authorities of complicity with those smuggling cocoa out of the country. 

Many say the acts are now done with impunity right up to Fako Division with security vehicles also reportedly seen escorting trucks loaded with cocoa beans heading to the borders.

Sources on the ground also hinted The Guardian Post that most of those involved smuggling cocoa to Nigeria are now working with separatist fighters operating in most of the cocoa production basins in the South West Region. 

The smugglers, we further gleaned, aside reportedly working with Police and Gendarmerie officers, now pay huge sums to separatist fighters in order to be able to transport their products without being intercepted.  

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