Cameroon cuts prices after riots
2008-03-08 20:37
Yaounde - Cameroon's President, Paul
Biya, has raised state salaries by 15% and suspended
customs duties on basic foodstuffs like fish, rice and cooking
oil to ease discontent over high prices which provoked riots
last week.
In two presidential decrees broadcast on state radio late on
Friday, Biya increased the wages of civilian and military
personnel from April 1 and raised their family allowances by 20% of the monthly basic salary.
The radio also said custom duties on cement would be cut to
10% from 20% until the end of August, to ease an
acute shortage of building materials which has led to a doubling
in the consumer price for cement in recent months.
Biya also urged the government to settle its payment
arrears, maintain salary and pension advances, strengthen youth
employment programmes and recruit more part-time teachers.
In the medium term, he demanded a review of the pricing of
fuels, telephone rates and bank charges and he urged the
government to press ahead with stalled industrial, mining and
agricultural projects.
"I urge the prime minister to scrupulously carry out with
celerity and efficacy the instructions I have just given. I will
not tolerate any failure in their execution," Biya said.
The measures come in the wake of a February 25-28 taxi drivers
strike to protest at fuel price hikes in the central African
country that degenerated into rioting in several towns against
the high cost of living and Biya's intention to extend his 25
years in power.
The government put the death toll from the clashes at 24,
although human rights activists put it at over 100, most of
these shot dead by the police in the economic capital Douala.
The government said 1 671 people were arrested, about 200 of
whom have so far been tried and sentenced to serve between six
months and three years in prison. Rights organisations denounced
the summary trials behind closed doors and heavy jail terms.
Meanwhile, union groups criticised Biya's announcements.
"For us, these are just cosmetic measures and a non-event,"
said the president of the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union (Cattu)
Simon Nkwenti. "What we want is the restoration of salaries to
their pre-1993 levels."
In 1993, as part of IMF-backed reforms, Cameroon cut wages
by 70% and, one year later, the CFA franc currency was
devalued by 50%, slashing consumer purchasing power.
In the early 1980s, Cameroon was one of sub-Saharan Africa's
most successful economies, with annual growth of over 7 percent.
But the country was plunged into a prolonged economic crisis
in the mid-1980s by a collapse in coffee, cocoa, and oil prices,
which exposed the weakness of economic policies.