PAMOL: Mbile Tapea’s giant strides four years on.

He was appointed on October 7, 2020, at the time the corporation faced a series of challenges, which were dragging it down the sloop. 

But four years down the road, Mbile Tapea Solomon’s dexterous, people-focused and level-headed management style has turned around the tables, taking the corporation to greater heights.

In under four years, there has been an inundation of improvement within the corporation in the domains of production, corporate social responsibility, regular and prompt salary payments and increments, promotion of meritocracy and hard work, payment of staff’s social insurance dues, health and other social welfare, among others. Mbile and his team have been taken the agro-industrial company to an unexpected level, despite huge challenges.

Recognition of meritorious workers

Details from Mbile Tapea’s collaborators indicate that to encourage hard work among the staff of the corporation, the General Manager has been recognising meritorious workers by motivating them. This has been seen during various Labour Day celebrations, during which motorbikes are handed to some hard-working field operatives and other motivational packages to some workers who stand out in their respective performance. The meritorious workers who have been handed motivational packages also included clerical and even medical staff of the corporation.

As a workaholic himself, Mbile easily notices and rewards hard-working workers. 

Regular, prompt payment of salaries

Since his appointment as General Manager of PAMOL, Mbile Tapea has ensured regular and prompt payment of staff salaries. 

Meanwhile, to boost performance, the corporation, in April this year, conducted a performance appraisal, after which some deserving workers experienced an increase in their remuneration. We gathered that this is in compliance with existing policy, which stipulates that performance appraisals should be done annually.   

It should be noted that before Mbile’s appointment, the performance appraisals had not been done for a long time. Having done this recently, the meritorious staff are enjoying an increase in their pay, which has had an attendant effect on staff output.

Consistent payment of CNPS dues

The General Manager is also said to have seriously been following up the issue of payment of staff social insurance dues to the National Social Insurance Fund, CNPS. This is to ensure that retirees start having their pensions. We learned that this has been a long standing issue which is coming to a close, because there are efforts for the recommencement of the payment of workers benefits.

As far as the monthly payment of staff social insurance dues is concerned, the company has not failed to do so since the appointment of Mbile Tapea as General Manager. This, the GM is doing while keeping in view the regularisation of the corporation’s outstanding debts with CNPS. He has also sent the file, not only to the CNPS, but also to the Prime Minister’s Office and the presidency, which, we gathered, have given some consideration, and it is expected that some positive results will come out of it for things to regain normalcy.

Because this concerns the social welfare of PAMOL workers, this is top on the agenda of the General Manager and he is working tirelessly towards realising that.

Increased in production

PAMOL, under Mbile Tapea, has also witnessed increase in production. Since the return of workers after they ran for safety because of insecurity, things have been picking up. Workers have been resuming work progressively, production has increased and the work force has increased, either for direct or indirect workers. Production of the company is said to be increasing progressively; plantations and operations are being expanded in Lobe in Ndian and Bai as well. Since 2020, the corporation is making sure that there is a gradual but steady expansion of its activities.

Aggressive smallholder scheme policy adopted

The corporation, since having Mbile at the helm, has adopted an aggressive smallholder scheme policy. It tries to encourage stallholders to sell their crops to the corporation. The company gives the stallholders technical inputs and also encourages them to improve on its transportation situation in order to get their crops from their fields speedily and take to the mills for processing. 

PAMOL has also adopted a policy of prompt payment to smallholders. It has adopted the policy to pay the smallholders immediately after they supply their crops. This is to encourage the stallholders to ensure that there is a constant supply of crops. 

Proper execution of corporation’s budget

It should be noted that all of the aforementioned is in line with the proper execution of PAMOL’s budget, which is voted by the Board of Directors. The GM presents the budget to the Board of Directors and once it is adopted, he ensures that it is properly executed. 

Admirable corporate social responsibility

Meanwhile, the corporation, under Mbile’s leadership, has engaged in a corporate social responsibility that has been described by pundits as admirable. 

It has a good relationship with adjacent communities. There are teachers who are on the payroll of PAMOL. This has greatly improved the academic performance of pupils and students in Lobe in particular and Ndian Division in general. We gathered that the teachers under PAMOL’s payroll are doing their best to ensure that pupils and students in Ndian get the opportunity of securing a better future, just like those living in urban areas.

Health welfare of workers

Mbile has also been prioritising the health and other welfare of workers. The corporation has ensured that hospitals are properly equipped and provided with drugs to ensure that not only PAMOL workers and their dependents have access to medicine and better healthcare, but also those in adjacent communities. 

The corporation is also said to have made arrangements for visiting medical doctors in Ndian and Lobe. PAMOL is also making efforts to have a medic specialised in Industrial Medicine in all the estates, in compliance with existing regulations.

In terms of other welfare, PAMOL has houses for staff, provides water, electricity. Boreholes have been constructed in estates and the corporation has acquired generators at the level of factories and other areas to make sure that there is constant electricity supply within the camps, for workers not to stay in darkness at night. This is also to ensure that workers have a better way of living during and after work.

The GM has also been organising welfare games during off seasons. Financial resources are being disbursed to the various estates to organise jamborees in the form of various sports disciplines.

Challenges faced

However, all these achievements by Mbile and his team were not recorded without noticeable challenges. He came to the helm of the corporation at a time the ongoing sociopolitical crisis in the North West and South West Regions was at its peak.

Some workers had fled, mills were shut down and there were accrued debts and non-payment of suppliers and for other obligations. However, Mbile has taken the commitment to work very hard to service these obligations and outstanding payments, amidst heightened security concerns. 

The insecurity makes executive of operations very difficult. It causes some workers not to go to the plantations, and there has also been destruction of the company’s vehicles and other equipment, and also loss of life. These have had a very negative and far-reaching setback on production operations.

Because of insecurity, maintenance of roads have been slowed down and the plantations are overgrown, which require mobilisation of financial resources to enable the plantations to be catered for. 

But the workers who fled are coming back progressively. Mbile is doing all to ensure that the company regains the state it was before the crisis, by ensuring that everybody returns to work to get back the number of more 3,500 direct and indirect operatives and those who render services to the corporation. 

We gathered that there has been a steady improvement in all of these. 

Other challenges, we learned, include the fact that the mills are running low because of age, installations are old and need to be refurbished, some need to be bought anew and require mobilisation of huge financial resources. 

Another remarkable drawback is the deteriorated roads. Because movement of produce cannot be done by road due to insecurity, PAMOL transports its produce by sea, which is risky, costly and time-consuming. But the company goes through all of this to be able to service its customers and make money to cater for all other obligations. 

Mbile runs a very tight schedule and trusts his collaborators to be able to accompany him to accomplish the results. So far, there is ongoing maintenance and there are plans to refurbish and maintain the heavy-duty installations.

The vision of the PAMOL General Manager ties with the 2035 emergence vision of the Head of State, President Paul Biya.

Accolades galore

The adroit management savvy of Mbile Tapea Solomon has been having accolades from across the board.

For his remarkable achievements at the helm of PAMOL, Mbile has an avalanche of awards to his credit. These include: 2023 Most Resilient and Innovative General Manager (February 17, 2024, Ebolowa), by The Guardian Post; Most Outstanding Public Corporations Manager, Year 2023 (June 1st 2024, Limbe) by The Scoop Media Group; Life Time Achievement Award for Nation Builders (Gold Category), 2022/2023 - For Resilience in the Management of Pamol at the Heart of the Current Anglophone Crisis; Most Resilient and Innovative Agro-industrial General Manager, Year 2023, by Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists, CAMASEJ. 

Other awards include: 2023 Most Innovative and Resilient General Manager by Cameroon English Language Newspaper Publishers Association, CENPA and 2024 Man of the Year Award, by Cameroon Association of Media Professionals, CAMP, in collaboration with Victoria International Media Merit Awards, VIIMMA.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3266 of Monday October 21, 2024