Varsity lecturers' strike: Right timing for them, wrong timing for Biya regime!.

At the core of their grievances, according to SYNES' Secretary General, Prof Jeannette Wogaing Fotso, is "the non-payment of academic debts, accumulated during the 2021-2022 period". 

The debt concerns arrears consisting of unpaid statutory services, including additional hours of teaching, supervision of theses/dissertations, participation in defense juries, and research modernisation allowances.

Another debt reportedly owed by the government is the third and fourth installments of bonuses to researchers. The union claims that 80% of them are affected by the issues in all 11 government universities. 

They are also raising alarm about the deteriorating living and working conditions of university lecturers, citing difficulties related to the pension system, health insurance, and the increasing job insecurity of the teaching staff.

They noted that it is not the first time that lecturers had raised their legitimate demands and the government made promises in 2024 and last year but have since remained unfulfilled.

The exact amount of total debt is not known, but The Guardian Post understands that it runs into billions of FCFA. Government, however, has been making some efforts to pay some in installments.

Recent government reports indicate that it began settling a portion of the debt late last year after the Ministry of Finance announced in August 2024, that salary arrears would be cleared over a two-year period; starting that year, with all teachers' salary arrears to be fully paid by the end of 2025.

It, however, began payment belatedly in October last year, with the long-standing academic debt for the period 2000–2021; starting with lecturers of the Universities of Buea, Bamenda, and Maroua.

However, last week, the union said Yaounde had reneged on its promise, understandably due to the mounting debts and other security and economic challenges.

According to the Bank of Central African States, BEAC, its latest monetary policy report indicates that Cameroon issued over 63% of its public securities in short-term treasury bills, between June 2024 and June 2025. The data underscores the country’s persistent cash-flow pressure.

The short-term government instruments with maturities between 13 and 52 weeks, are mainly used to cover temporary financing gaps such as debt service, salary payments, or pending State obligations.

The dominance of such loans indicates Cameroon’s limited capacity to meet short-term liquidity needs from its own resources. 

The Ministry of Finance’s 2026- 2028 Medium-Term Economic and Budgetary Programming Document, prepared ahead of the July 2025 budget orientation debate, supported the assessment.

The report noted that 60% of the 271.6 billion FCFA raised by Cameroon on the BEAC securities market between January and March 2025 was used to refinance maturing debts. 

Only 10.6 billion FCAFA came from longer-term loans, confirming the State’s heavy reliance on short-term borrowing.

Some economists noted that "Cameroon, once praised for keeping interest costs low, now faces steeper borrowing expenses." 

The Autonomous Sinking Fund has also raised alarm that "discussions are underway to mitigate refinancing risks amid tensions in the domestic market”. 

Facing rising rates and tightening liquidity, President Paul Biya is known to have ratified two major loan agreements, totaling more than 254 billion FCFA, adding to a public debt stock that stood at 14,591 billion FCFA at the end of September last year. 

It represents 43.9% of GDP, according to figures made public by the Ministry of Finance, citing the Autonomous Sinking Fund as the source.

The new loans come amid Cameroon’s debt levels under tight scrutiny and eagle-eye monitoring by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, IMF.

The Ministry of Finance reported that by September 2025, the country’s public debts had increased by 0.8% month-on-month and 2.6% year-on-year, remaining relatively stable every quarter. 

The debts stock includes both external and domestic obligations, with outstanding treasury arrears recorded at 171.3 billion FCFA, covering unpaid bills for goods, services, subsidies, personnel expenses, and transfers.

Although Cameroon’s public debt is on the fast lane to 44%, the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa sets a convergence threshold of 70% of GDP, a benchmark designed to safeguard regional macroeconomic stability.

The Minister of Finance has been emphasising that the country’s debts ratio remains well below the Subregional ceiling, signaling compliance with community standards.

However, in its recent assessments, the IMF and the World Bank put Cameroon's debt-to-GDP ratio at around 46.8% at the end of 2024, which remains below the regional level but "it is highly vulnerable to economic shocks" and "at a "high risk of debt distress".

The university lecturers' strike should add to the stress at a time the post-election skirmishes continue to pollute the political atmosphere and a delayed government reshuffle that has kept members of government jittery.

Even on previous threats by teachers to go on strike, like in March last year for instance, the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, had an emergency meeting of "constructive dialogue" with lecturers' unions, at the National Advanced School of Engineering in Yaounde.

The meeting, at the behest of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, involved at least four government ministers and union presidents from all educational sectors, intended to address the demands put forth by teachers' unions.

Why then did the government not react when university teachers announced that they were to go on a 10-day strike, which started on Monday?

Isn't it because a new cabinet has not been formed and every minister is cautious, not wanting to take decisions that could backfire and lead to exclusion from the imminent government?

Whatever the answers, the strike is an ominous sign of a regime weakened by a contested election and a ruling party in implosion hoping for "change".

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3667 of Thursday January 08, 2026