Payment of family allowances: Gov’t raises alarm as bill rises by 17 billion FCFA in five years.

To stem the tide, the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, Wednesday, June 3, in Yaounde, launched a project with aim to fish out irregularities in the way documents are compiled for workers to enjoy family allowance, so as to clean up and secure the files of public officials.

Dubbed “Operation to clean up the State family allowances file”, the minister said the move is in line with the instructions of the Head of State relating to the modernisation of public finance management, rationalisation of public spending and fight against irregular financial flows.

He reminded compatriots, particularly State employees who enjoy the allowances that it is a privilege that signifies the State´s commitment to the wellbeing of the families of its agents.

Motaze expressed dismay that recent analyses of the payroll database show abnormal and highly worrying statistical trajectories. He said in less than five years, the dedicated budgetary envelope has increased from 21 billion FCFA, to 38 billion FCFA, which means an increase of 17 billion FCFA, within the period under review.

He announced that from June 25 to July 15 and July 25 to August 15, verifications will be carried out in banks or regional tax offices. 

He said in North West and South West Regions, verifications will be done in finance offices in Nkambe, Kumbo and Wum, in the North West Region. In the South West, it will be carried out in finance offices in Limbe, Kumba, Mamfe and Bangem. 

Specific objectives of the clean-up operation

According to Minister Motaze, the operation aims to restore transparency, sincerity and social justice within governmentss redistribution system. 

He assured public officials that the operation is not meant to witch-hunt anybody and curtail workers’ rights, but rather, to ensure that workers with no problem in their family situation actually enjoy the benefits, while fraudsters are weeded out.

Motaze stressed that officials sent to the field for verification of documents are people of good faith, who would rather consolidate and scrupulously protect the privileges of honest workers than reduce them.

Fraud in the system, the minister said, aggravated when, with effect from February 2024, government increased the allowance per child from 2,800 FCFA to 4,500 FCFA. 

With the increase, the minister disclosed that nearly one million, (923,307) registered children now benefit from family allowances. 

MINFI boss was corroborated by Simo Kengne Robert, Director of Personnel and Pensions, who doubles as the Coordinator of the Technical Secretariat that is leading the project team to the field for on-the-spot verification of documents.

Simo said their mission is to root out fake birth certificates, and other irregularities that have been perpetrated in field offices to enable some people enjoy these allowances, when they are actually not supposed to.

He assured that his team will be able to meet up with the deadline of 24 months given them to complete the assignment. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3807 of Thursday June 04, 2026