After five months in office: What balance sheet for New Taxation DG?.

At the level of the Directorate General of Taxation, the Head of State, President Paul Biya, on March 20 this year, named a new boss in the person of Roger Athanase Meyong Abath.

He replaced Modest Mopa Fatoing, who is now on secondment at the International Monetary Fund, IMF. The Presidential trust the new Director General of Taxation enjoys is not a given. 

The question on the lips of every Cameroonian, especially within business circles, is what Roger Athanase Meyong has been able to do, five months in office.

The question holds a central place in maintaining private and public interest. This is because, the taxation policies and the processes of implementation can make or mar every country. 

It is no secret that while a thriving private sector means wealth creation and more jobs, government has the obligation to also raise money through taxes, vital for pursuing the development vision in place. Striking a balance that satisfies every sector is what whoever sits on the position of Cameroon’s Director General of Taxation, has to work out.

Exemplary benchmarks 

Before his appointment as Taxation Director General, Meyong, who was Head of the Inspectorate of Taxation Services, was a key player in the known achievements of his predecessor, Modeste Mopa Fatoing. 

Now in the driver’s seat as the country’s chief tax officer and fiscal policy advisor, records show that, one of his first harvests is the demonstrated ingenuity in benchmarking what had been put in place as a modernisation roadmap for the Taxation Department.

With a key knowledge of the sector and expertise that have also been put at the disposal of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, Meyong has been saluted for breathing his knowhow into the taxation architecture for maximum effect to strengthen productivity.

Meyong & the power of distinct continuity

In his bag of achievements, five months as Taxation Director General, Meyong has been applauded for guaranteeing a steady continuity. He has remained open to his collaborators with whom he worked even before President Paul Biya catapulted him to the helm of the service.

Unlike in other state entities wherein such changes have always resulted in chaos and internal shocks, the new Taxation Director General, a time-tested and renowned consultant, has ensured a smooth flow of work. He has maintained his focus on the fiscal regime of the state for 2023; rallying all to work for the interest of the Cameroonian public.

Investigations carried out by The Guardian Post indicate that Meyong Abath, has in five months, succeeded in remobilising at least 3500 taxation staff nationwide to work in the interest of the state; without also jeopardising the interest of stakeholders, especially those in the  business world.

Concertation to improve business climate

Meyong, who is a celebrated scholar and author of several books on fiscal reforms, set out for work immediately Biya handed him the country’s taxation top job. On April 27, he held discussions with representatives of the Cameroon Employers’Association, popularly known as GICAM.

Emerging from that meeting, the President of GICAM, Celestin Tawamba, had said the openness of the new taxation boss is good for the mutual drive to improve business climate in Cameroon.

The Taxation DG has also reached out to other stakeholders and groupings in the light of ensuring the usual uniformity that is needed in designing the country’s tax policy.

He also got the contributions of the business community that are now part of the preparation of the 2024 state budget. Such pro-activeness is said to be what will keep the Taxation Department productive, despite the continuous changes in global trade and investment.

Normalising relations with GICAM

One of the hot files that Meyong Athanase has handled is that relating to the relationship between GICAM and the Taxation Department. The association had raised concerns over certain tax adjustments, stating what they said were rigid changes.

 On June 2, 2023, the new taxation boss is said to have paid a working visit to Douala. During exchanges with businesspersons, Meyong Athanase talked GICAM into opting for a new start to ensure mutual benefits for the state and business owners.

The strengthening of ties with GICAM, sources at the Ministry of Finance told The Guardian Post, has resulted in a drop in complaints from businesspersons. In the last three years, the committee is said to have been receiving an average of 800 complaints. 

These were in the wake of COVID-19, the Russia Ukraine war and other shifts. Five months as tax chief, GICAM and the taxation department are now looking at the same direction.

Probity at work

Sources at the Directorate General of Taxation say since mandated to play the headman ship role at the institution, Meyong Abath, who had until March 20, been a workaholic, crisscrossing nations and institutions to raise other professionals, has demonstrated probity in the discharge of his duties.

His collaborators say unlike the Cameroonian syndrome of public office holders coming to work on days and times they choose, Meyong has remained time conscious and focus in serving the country.

Known for his uprightness, the new taxation boss on May 2, 2023, chaired a meeting to assess the rate of revenue collection for the first quarter of the year. 

Figures presented during that meeting showed the Taxation Department raised over 818 billion FCFA for the state for the first quarter of this year. With records showing that there was an increase of over 104 billion FCFA compared to 2022, Meyong did not fail to salute the work done but urged staff gather energy for more.

Pursing the 2023 taxation plan

In the last five months, the man in charge of Cameroon’s tax policy has been steady in achieving the goals that were set by the state for 2023. He reiterated this on May 2, while chairing a meeting to review the records of tax collection for the first quarter of the year.

Meyong Athanase told collaborators during that meeting that the 2023 action plan of the Taxation Department will be pursued scrupulously.  That, the innovative and discrete public servant has been pursing without relenting. He is keen on beating targets for non-oil revenue for 2023 capped at 2,800 billion FCFA.

Consolidating dematerialisation of tax payment

Meyong Athanase has been working relentlessly to build on the innovations which his predecessor, Modeste Mopa, introduced in modernising the tax system. 

Trusted sources in the Ministry of Finance have attested that the modernisation agenda has been given an added push in the last five months to curb tax evasion, corruption, gain time and boost revenue collection. 

He has continued to work to further simplify tax payment procedures for big enterprises. Given the road covered in five months and still counting, Meyong Athanase, many have said, has proven his worth as a scholar who is not only good in theory but also excellent in practical work. 

Meyong Athanase in a nutshell

The graduate of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, IRIC, prides self of a rich experience in taxation-related issues.

The widely read revenue expert is also a graduate of the prestigious National School of Administration and Magistracy, ENAM, and Ecole Supérieure des Mines de Paris.

He holds a PhD in taxation from the Paris Dauphine University, a public research university based in Paris, France.

Meyong Abath is the author of a book on tax harmonisation in the CEMAC zone. The very discreet and quiet achiever lectures in several universities in Cameroon and beyond. 

Formerly Deputy Director of International Taxation and Director of Large Enterprises at the General Directorate of Taxes, Meyong Abath contributed as Cameroon's expert to the tax harmonisation process in the Central African Subregion.