CPDM regime's contracts of impunity.

In the CPDM regime, that scandal of impunity stinks in the awards of public contracts, often a milking cow for those who issue the contracts.

Legally, the law requires that only contracts below five million FCFA, ridiculously referred to as gifts to beneficiaries, are given without tenders.

Those above five million FCFA, are done by Tender Boards, which are available in all councils, ministries, government corporations, universities etc.

The Ministry of Public Contracts, MINMAP, attached to the Presidency, was created as the central body responsible for defining, implementing, and monitoring government policy on public contracts and procurement, having assumed technical oversight of procurement processes.

It enhances the effectiveness of the Public Contracts Regulatory Agency, ARMP, which remains the regulatory, oversight, and control body of big contracts.

For instance, the Olembe Stadium, Paul Biya laptops, and more recently that of solar street lights and Douala Ports Authority, PAD, that have been polluting the legal, political and economic atmosphere with scandals of impunity. 

The common denominations about the contracts have been on a suspicious trajectory of, first; not passing through the sieve of public tenders. 

Secondly, the contract prices have bordered on over-billings and raising questions of corruption. 

And thirdly, the quality of service has been below standards, delayed or delivered uncompleted.

Take for instance, the current street solar contract raising hell in public opinion. The CPDM government has awarded a direct contract worth 21.4 billion FCFA, to Sunna Design, to install 21,500 streetlights.

Multiple reports in the media indicate that the contract was awarded directly by the General Secretariat of the Presidency, at the request of the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ketcha Courtès, bypassing the usual tender channels.

In comparison, the unit cost is about one million FCFA per streetlight. The figure became a financial scandal when compared to similar projects some four years ago by the same company, carried out in Togo at a unit cost of 524,000 FCFA, including maintenance.

Mathematically, the price in Cameroon is therefore almost 90% higher for comparable equipment, while inflation in the past four years has been around six percent.

The Guardian Post acknowledges that the use of negotiated contracts, often referred to as ‘gré à gré’, is legal. 

But it is lawfully authorised only "under specific conditions in the Cameroon Public Contracts Code, often for urgent needs or when only one supplier can provide the service. Normally, an exception for emergencies or technical uniqueness". 

Another questionable case has been that of the scanning contract with SGS at the Douala Seaport. The nation and the world are being told that the government awarded the contract in 2015 for 10 years. 

It is common knowledge that the contractor started work after the contract was signed but it has emerged from the government that work began in 2022, seven long years after. No comment!

There is also the famous Olembe Stadium contract, with its aesthetic beauty and architectural marvel that invited headlines about the extravagant cost.
Initiated in 2015, the sports complex cost was pegged at 163 billion FCFA, to be constructed in 30 months by the Italian construction group, Piccini. 
The sports complex was to include a 60,000-seat Omnisport stadium, two training annexes with 1,000 seats, as well as a shopping centre and an accommodation centre of 70 rooms.

Piccini failed to live up to the billing and the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Prof Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, cancelled the contract amidst threats of legal action from the Italian firm, claiming the government was not meeting its financial commitment.    

He awarded it to a Canadian firm, MAGIL Construction, which promised to deliver the infrastructure by June 2020. 

Eight long months after the June 2020 deadline, the company demanded for more money, and in response, President Paul Biya, signed a decree to borrow money to complete the stadium.

In the decree, he had instructed the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, to endorse a loan agreement with the Standard Chartered Bank of London and BPI France Export for a credit of 55,166,693,111 FCFA.
The amount raised eyebrows with Member of Parliament, Hon Jean-Michel Nintcheu, writing to the Presidency, to provide clarifications. He pointed out that the stratospheric level of the amount of loan was puzzling and raised issues of inflated billings.

The parliamentarian said the loan taken for the job was reported to be more than the 17 billion FCFA requested by the contractor. 

He also wanted to know how the job, initially pegged at 166 billion FCFA, and without tender, soared to some 217 billion FCFA, still not completed as per original plan despite the soaring cost.

There is also the Paul Biya laptop contract, awarded by the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, in July 2016; to provide 500,000 laptops to students, to boost the digital economy for 75 billion FCFA payable with a loan from China.    

Concerns were raised about the exorbitant cost per unit, with some commentators suggesting "potential misappropriation of funds or a massive overvaluation of the hardware". 

The supposed research centres to accompany the laptops have remained a pipe dream.

The Guardian Post need not expand the scandals to other contracts like the COVIDgate and many others.

The award of contracts on negotiable process, even the so-called 4.9, awarded without tenders, has become an opaque procedure, more of the rule than exceptions. They starkly expose governance abuses that plague the management of public funds.

Although there might have been some fantasies and fallacies in some of the criticisms, the facts remain indisputable.

The procedure has been abused, forcing the International Monetary Fund, IMF, a major lender to Cameroon, and several national civil society organisations, to call for a drastic reduction in their use.

Avoiding competitive bidding deprives the State of potential savings, fuels systemic suspicions of favouritism, corruption, tribalism, poor service delivery and costly international litigation that sullies the image of the country.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3699 of Monday February 09, 2026