The government-owned telecommunications company federated with the Supreme State Audit Office on a training of its staff hinged on best management practices.
Christened, Securing Public Assets, the threeday workshop ends today in Yaounde. Raft reports of mismanagement in state-owned corporations are common and have been around for long. The General Manager of Camtel Judith Yah Sunday wants to make the company an exception and a reference in the realm of proper management. For this to happen, Camtel staff need to know the dos and don’ts in the management of public enterprises in Cameroon. Helping Camtel staff to have a “better mastery of the legislative and regulatory framework governing the management of public funds in Cameroon in general and particularly the institutional, financial and patrimonial governance of public enterprise,” is one of the objectives of the workshop. State corporations could avoid some cases of mismanagement if the staff knew what is allowed. The adage, “ignorance of the law is not an excuse” will not spare those responsible. Hence, the training workshop will also upgrade the knowledge of Camtel staff, on the “notions of mismanagement and irregularities and their classification at the legal, regulatory and jurisprudential level,” another objective read. This initiative falls in line with the 2019-2024 roadmap of Camtel’s General Manager. “Since we took over the management of the country’s incumbent telecommunications company, Camtel, we prioritize good governance on our agenda,” Judith Yah Sunday mentioned in her speech on the opening day of the workshop. A pursuit, which is achievable with the refresher workshop that will stamp out acts of mismanagement in the corporation, said the Minister Delegate in the Presidency in Charge of the Supreme State Audit Office, Consupe, Mbah Acha née Fomundam Rose as she opened the training. Consupe is an external auditor of state-run corporations. Minister Mbah Acha expects an “improvement in the management of Camtel”, when this outside auditor compares notes with the internal auditors of the company next time. This translates as efficient management that could make Camtel a profitable company to the government of Cameroon as the enterprise remains a key chip in the economy of the country. Camtel is the next mobile telephone operator in the country’s competitive market, largely in the hands of multinationals. The company is also a provider of internet and landlines in Cameroon, besides owing the biggest Data Centre in the Central African Sub region.
Jude Viban
