CPDM MPs Moving Away From Biya, Calls For Transparency In Management Of Natural Resources

Dibangui Diana

Members of parliament have unanimously said citizens should be better informed about the management of natural resources in the country and that the future generations must not be deprived of the income from these resources. The Honourable Members of Parliament of both the Upper and the Lower House made the call during a meeting held under the auspices of the Parliamentary Network for Sustainable Management of the Forest Ecosystems.

In Cameroon, there is still no regulatory framework for mining. The rich subsoil is anarchically exploited and officially reported figures often do not fit with reality. All what is often claimed to have been done with oil, timber or mining money ranges from plain fiction to the most absurd. Recent attempts by the Biya regime to publish figures from the petroleum sector and the National Hydro Carbon companies have met with a stone wall following revelations from the Albatross Affair. See this week end edition of The AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE.

This recent move by predominantly CPDM members of parliament has worried Etoudi and many political commentators are seeing it as a sign that the MPs are slowly but surely moving away from the status quo. Hon. Jean Jacques Zam is said to be leading the movement.