Mayors threaten to strike over unpaid salaries

Mayors all over Cameroon have threatened to strike beginning August 1, if government does not fulfill “empty promises” made over the years by Marafa Hamidou Yaya and Rene Emmanuel Sadi, former and current Ministers of Territorial Administration and Decentralization respectively.

Their resolve is contained in a press statement by the National Coordination of Mayors and Councilors of Cameroon, NCMCC. It points out a series of agreements the disgruntled mayors have had with government convincing them not to embark on strike.

The mayors have vowed they will with all their deputies, carry out a sit-down strike from August 1 till September 1 when they shall be joined by all Councilors if government ignores them. All through September, the release states, they will go to their offices every day but render no services to the public.

They plan to proceed with a protest march to the offices of all ten regional governors on October 1 to hand them a memo containing their grievances. They would also forward copies of the memo to the territorial administration minister, the minister of external relations and the presidency.

The move involves both mayors of the ruling CPDM and parties of the opposition who say they are “languishing in poverty and misery” while their fellow elected officials, Senators and MP’s are living lavishly and luxuriously.

The mayors have decided to conceal their identities and operate under a code name, ‘The Coordination’. A delegation of five would storm the ministry of territorial administration and the Presidency and request to meet the minister and the Head of State, if nothing is done to remedy their situation by October.