Public contracts: Forest ministry scribe advocates use of legally-sourced timber.

This was during a national workshop he presided on behalf of Minister Jules Doret Ndongo.

The workshop was to launch the dissemination of a 2020 joint order of the ministers of Public Works, Public Contracts and forestry outlining guidelines for use of timber in public contracts.

In attendance were representatives of partner ministries, stakeholders and members of the civil society. The joint order, officials said, ranked Cameroon as the first country to impose the use of legally-sourced timber in public contracts. 

They said the Order is a new instrument for all stakeholders involved in the forestry chain and the public contract system to address several challenges.

Officials of the ministry of forestry said the goal is to guarantee the legality of supplies and enhance a domestic timber market that promotes best practices.

According to Nyongwen, the information and awareness campaign aims to clarify the role of the relevant authorities and define the responsibilities. He added that, it also seeks to make an explanatory guide available to stakeholders in the public contracts sector in both French and English languages.

Nyongwen said the move sends a clear signal of government's commitment to maximize tax revenues and consolidate the forestry sector as a driver of economic growth, wealth and job creation.

Several key measures, he said, have been adopted in recent years to make legally-sourced timber accessible. 

Some of them he said, include; a relentless and ongoing fight against illegal logging, the operationalization of second-generation Forest Information Management System, SIGIF2, and the effective implementation of the Internal Timber Market through the creation of several sites across the country.

He said the signing of the joint order crowned a series of reform measures undertaken to improve the sector. The text, he said, is multi-sectoral in nature and requires ownership by all public and private actors involved.

About the joint order

Officials said the joint order resulted from the desire to reinforce the mastery of the multisectoral instrument by the most prominent public actors.

According to the explanatory guide, MINFOF is responsible for the implementation of the government’s forestry policy.

MINFOF, the explanatory guide revealed, takes all necessary measures to ensure the availability of legally-sourced timber and timber by-products.

The Ministry of Public Works on its part, it was said, shall be responsible for assessing and approving work compliance with specifications. 

Based on the joint order, the works ministry shall also assess the compliance of wood for public contract with agreed principles, criteria and indicators required by law.

The Ministry of Public Contract the guide states, is the public contracting authority. In this light, it is charged with instructing  all contracting authorities and delegate contracted  authorities to include the use of legally-sourced timber in tender files as a an eliminatory criterion.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3561 of Thursday September 11, 2025