20,000 absentee workers cost State 46 billion FCFA annually.

The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, is said to have indicated that no fewer than 20,000 civil servants have been absent from their posts but kept receiving their salaries.

The minister is said to have noted that the number represents a loss of up to 46 billion FCFA for the public treasury.

The uncovering, officials said, was made possible thanks to a decision by the government to digitalize the movement of people in and out of the country using international airports and other border posts. 

Minister Motaze is said to have warned that the uncovered absentee civil servants could, with effect from January 2026, stop drawing salaries and other benefits from government payroll. 

“The Ministry of Finance now uses migration data collected at airports and border crossings…This technological shift makes it possible to uncover those leading a double life abroad – often in Europe and North America – while retaining their Cameroonian salary as a `respite` income,” the Minister of Finance is said to have noted.

He is said to have insisted that henceforth, if a civil servant is recorded leaving the country without a mission order or official leave of absence, and no re-entry is recorded in the following months, sanctions will follow.

To this effect, media reports hold that the Ministry of Finance is currently polishing actions to block such leakages in the coming days.

Reports indicate that Ministry of Secondary Education has the highest number of absentee civil servants. This is said to be thousands of teachers who have left the country but continue to earn their salaries.

Records at the nation´s international airports and border crossings officials said, indicates many of those concerned long travelled out but have since not returned.

Specifically, at the Ministry of Secondary Education alone, up to 5,000 teachers are said to have been indicted for leaving the country without any authorisation.

Apart from earning unmerited salaries and other benefits, government officials decry a situation where many classrooms remain without teachers yet billions are drain from the treasury every month.

Government mentioned Canada, specifically, as the most favoured destination of migrants from Cameroon who work in the North American country as “illegal expatriates”. 

The Minister of Secondary Education, Prof Nalova Lyonga, is quoted to be working on a document to transmit to the Prime Minister, Head of Government, to ensure the mass recruitment of teachers to fill the vacancies.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3665 of Tuesday January 06, 2026