Cameroon is currently moving to dematerialize and streamline civil service procedures.  On Wednesday, during a press briefing in Yaoundé,  Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform Joseph Le (photo) announced a set of measures in that regard. According to the government official, the 2022 finance law includes a budget line dedicated to the acquisition of tech equipment specifically dedicated to the authentication of various diplomas. 

The equipment will be a collaborative platform allowing collaboration between the Ministry of Public Service, the Ministry of Public Health, and the Ministries of Primary, Secondary, and Higher Education.

“With just one click, I can find all the information I need right from my office,”  explains Joseph Le. He also announces the digitization of the documents that make up the integration files of graduates of teacher training colleges from the first week after the end of their training.

Few years ago, Cameroon acquired an IT system for integrated management of state personnel (SIGIPES). However, some civil servants usually spend the first years of their careers without some salaries and bonuses. For instance, from January to March 2022, a strike organized by secondary school teachers disrupted classes. The teachers were denouncing delays in the payment of their salaries and bonuses. 

In response to this protest movement, the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, instructed the optimization of the civil servants’ management system. For the Minister of the Public Service, the challenge causing delays in the payment of the salaries and bonuses demanded by the teachers is the authentication of various diplomas as well as recognition and equivalence of educational qualifications. Also, the procedure for the integration of teachers who graduated from teacher training colleges is not streamlined, he adds. 

According to the government, the reforms announced will reduce the time it takes for civil servants’ files to be effectively processed to reach the central administration. Currently, it takes 25 to 30 months. However, with the announced digitization, all the involved administration will receive the files at the same time and the processing and matriculation processes will start at the same time. 

Once the procedures are dematerialized and streamlined, graduates from teachers’ training colleges will no longer have to wait for two to three years to be matriculated into the civil service. Instead, they will just have to wait for “45 to 90, maybe less than that,” assures Minister Joseph Le.

Ruben Tchounyabe