Kamto says Biya regime choking citizens with high taxes amidst inflation!.

The scathing criticism of the 2018 Presidential candidate is contained in a statement he issued June 21, 2024.

Kamto’s outing follows Ordinance N°. 2024/001 of June 20, 2024, signed by the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, revising certain provisions of the December 19, 2023, Finance Law. 

The MRC leader condemned what he said is the staggering increase in stamps on documents essential for the affirmation of citizenship, describing the move as a “matter of political irresponsibility”, especially as it comes after increase in fuel prices. 

Gov’t disconnected from reality

He was particularly bitter about article 548 of the presidential ordinance, titled “rights and stamps on passports and other documents”, which he said, “is further proof that the CPDM government is disconnected” from the realities of the lives of Cameroonians. 

Kamto rhetorically questioned why government, will in a “context of generalized impoverishment of populations, proceed with an astronomical increase in the cost of passport stamps and other documents, and in particular the National Identity Card, NIC?”. 

The decision by government, Kamto said, “is part of the regime's I-don't-care attitude” which is “indefensible and therefore unacceptable”. 

“Indeed, after having deprived Cameroonians of the National Identity Card for several years, in particular because of staggering poor public governance, the government has just increased the price of the NIC stamp from 2,800 FCFA to 10,000 FCFA which is an exponential increase of 257%,” he regretted.  

Kamto said the increase, when added to the 3,500 FCFA cost to acquire nationality certificate, birth certificate at 2,000 FCFA, raises the cost of obtaining an ID card to nearly 15,500 FCFA.

This amount, he detailed, represents 1/3 of the 41,875 FCFA minimum wage paid Cameroonians.  

Increase further decreasing purchasing power 

These costs, Kamto further analysed, “do not take into account private tax levied on users” in various administrations. 

He argued that: “In addition to being irresponsible, this increase takes no account of the modest purchasing power of the overwhelming majority of Cameroonians, undermined by ambient poverty”.

Harping further on the dire conditions of many citizens, Kamto recalled that the National Institute of Statistics, NIS, in its March 2024 report, indicated that ten million Cameroonians live on less than 1,000 FCFA per day.

‘Gov’t depriving citizens of their rights’ 

The vexing delay in the issuance of national ID cards by the government added to making it inaccessible due to its prohibitive cost, Kamto claimed, is a tactical step by government which further deprives ordinary Cameroonians “without jobs and without income, of an essential element for the exercise of their rights as citizens and their ordinary economic and social activities”. 

“…in fact, this government is putting them out of the game, out of the loop, on the margins of society. Who can trust a person who does not have a national identity card?” he questioned. 

‘Cameroon among countries with most expensive entry visas’

The presidential ordinance, Kamto added, “goes one step further by artificially increasing the cost of Cameroon entry visas, passes and consular cards, which are now among the most expensive in the world”. 

‘Proof state coffers dry…’

He said the ordinance is an “undeniable proof of the State's financial indigence and impecuniosity,” adding that: “We have long said that the State's coffers have been emptied by unrepentant kleptomaniacs and that our country is living day by day”.

The ordinance, as per Kamto, “betrays the financial pressure that the country has been facing for some time now, particularly vis-à-vis its international creditors, as a result of the reckless, incompetent and irresponsible management of the CPDM regime”.

‘Gov’t failing to take right steps’ 

According to the outspoken politician, the nonagenarian-led government is failing to address the pressure it is facing rightfully and instead focusing on choking citizens. 

“As could be expected, this regime, instead of cleaning up public finances, in particular by reducing its lifestyle, chose to pick the pockets of Cameroonians to try to fill the financial chasms dug in the public treasury by its pundits, through the scandals that have proliferated in recent years,” Kamto said. 

Kamto said the Biya government has for the umpteenth time, “chosen to target the most vulnerable populations”.

‘Gov’t politically irresponsible’ 

Prof Kamto was categorical that in a context of high cost of living and a general surge in the prices of basic necessities, “the staggering increase in stamps on documents essential for the affirmation of citizenship is a matter of political irresponsibility”. 

“The MRC denounces the psychological and social violence represented by the increase in the cost of services covered by the presidential order of June 20, 2024, which is neither more nor less than a provocation of Cameroonians. The MRC requests its cancellation,” he stated. 

Denounces use of foreign firms for ID, passports production 

Kamto used the opportunity to condemn the move by government to entrust the production of the NIC and passports, which he said, falls under the sovereignty of the State, to foreign companies, especially since there is national expertise in this area. 

“In this vein, the MRC calls on the government to clarify the reasons for awarding NIC production to foreign companies, as well as the conditions under which these contracts were awarded”.

The politician also called, “on parliament to carry out investigations into the NIC production crisis and the relevance of an increase in costs to be borne by Cameroonians”.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3148 of Monday June 24, 2024