How Things Sometimes Work in Cameroon

By Njei Moses Timah (Originally published on Njei's Website)

...my parcel took 4 days to cover a distance of about 13,700 kilometers from Mumbai to Douala, while it took 5 days from Douala Airport to my place in Bonaberi - a distance of less than 20 kilometers.

It may help you to better understand how Cameroon functions if you follow the journey of this parcel sent to me recently from Mumbai, India. It was sent through DHL and I thus used the tracking number to follow the journey of the parcel online. The Parcel left Mumbai (India) on the 8th of October shortly before 1 a.m and arrived New Delhi (India) at about 7.30am that morning. It departed from New Delhi at about 1 pm on that 8th and arrived at Leipzig (Germany) at about 7pm. The parcel then left Leipzig shortly before 4.am on the 9th of October for Brussels (Belgium) from where it left at around 6.am on that same day for Lagos (Nigeria). It arrived Lagos at Midday on the 9th and left the following day 10th October shortly after 4pm for Libreville (Gabon)—arriving there shortly before 6pm. It finally left Libreville before 6pm on the 11th and arrived at Douala (Cameroon) that Sunday evening.

As I kept on monitoring the parcel online, information on the DHL website showed that the parcel was “processed for clearance” at 10.25pm at Douala on the 11th October. On Monday 12th October, I checked the website in the evening and the information I saw was “clearance delayed”. I was not sure whether the clearance was delayed by me not going to collect my parcel or it was delayed at the level of the customs in the process of assessing the duties I had to pay. I decided that to be on the safe side, I will wait until I receive a call from DHL. The first telephone call I received from DHL came around 3pm on Wednesday October 14th. I informed the caller that I will come the following day since it was almost closing time for the people receiving custom duties.

On the 15th, I went to the DHL office near the Freight section of the Douala International airport. The custom officers attached to the unit assessed the goods and sent me to another section of their office some 500 meters away to go and commence the procedure of payment. I went to the customs office where they were to produce the paper work to enable me pay. When I got there, there was no electricity and I was told to wait until when AES Sonel (the Electricity Company) will re-establish electric current. “What about your standby generator?”I asked. “It has since broken down”. I was told. After idling there for some time with no solution to my problem, I decided that it were better I report the following day. I returned home, and on Friday 16th October, I left for the Custom office and prayed that there should be electricity.

I got there shortly before 10 am and encountered a new problem. The computers in the customs office and the nearby treasury were having difficulties starting apparently due to a virus infection. The computer in the first office struggled for about fifteen minutes and started working. My bill was generated and I took it to the next office where I paid and the computer generating receipts refused to open. I got so frustrated and soon found myself angrily exchanging words with the state employees in those offices. “You state employees want to bury this beautiful country”. I told a custom inspector. He tried to defend himself by saying that he was neither responsible for AES Sonel nor the broken generator nor for the non-performing computers. “You may not be personally responsible but another of your kind (state employee) is” I shot back. I met other grumbling customers with my similar problem around the place. Eventually, I had to meet the treasury boss who made it possible for me to claim my parcel by Midday. I was to come another day to collect my receipt.

It is an irony that my parcel took 4 days to cover a distance of about 13,700 kilometers from Mumbai to Douala, while it took 5 days from Douala Airport to my place in Bonaberi- a distance of less than 20 kilometers. In Cameroon, when people confront frustrating situations like this, they usually sigh and ask ‘On va faire comment?’ or ‘What shall we do’? As usual nothing is done and the country keeps on moving backwards.
 

Comments

[Ica Stores]

...in addtion to the unecessary waist of time,i am pretty sure they also asked u give them some kickbacks.Rotten country!

[marcel]

dear friend getting annoyed in cameroon because of govt and his employees will only make you more annoyed. immagine that you are a cameroonian who haved lived abroad and you come back home as they say and then face such a situation. can that explain why some people go and when they come back they go back and never come back again?

[Dyna Ngoy]

I have a friend of mine who has been trying to set up a company since June 2009. She has not yet completed the registration process up until today, 19 October 2009 (four months after). She is being tossed from one government office to the other In Yaounde, Douala and Bamenda. On va faire comment??? Cameroon na we country.

[The Entrepreneur Newsoline]

You have not told your readers what was the content of your package. Was it cocaine? Was it a commodity for which you must pay customs clearance? Remember that sending a good by DHL does not exonerate you from custom clearance and fees! It is even suspect that your package came from India via Nigeria - countries that have a propensity to snuffout laws and regulations.

If it were a commodity that required customs clearance, then mindful of the timelines you present here, you got your package in pretty good time. Its lightening to read from you that the Cameroon DHL and customs, etc. telephoned you about your package. Isn't that good news? Please, be honest to yourself and country. And stop exploiting the thoughtlessness of hundreds of Cameroonians who read what you write!

[Alain Dipoko, Yabassi Boy.]

Heaps of thanks to you Entrepreneur Online, for that vivid and heartfelt comments. Of recent Cameroon, has become a punching bag for any one who is pissed off in one way or the other. Here in Seattle Washington, home of the Microsoft XP Window Explorers, computers do freeze at times. What about a third world country like Cameroon? In Nigeria, the National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA) is reputed to having power failures even in hospitals. In fact I am flabbergasted how we sometimes apportion blames to a country, of things which are not unique to Cameroon alone.

Entrepreneur Online, if you need a job to work as a propagandist or literary critics please contact me on this e-mail for an appointment: rdpcdm84@yahoo.com. You will be an asset to my department. Currently, I am on trip to Seattle, Washington for some government business. Once more thank you for that piece.

[Louis Egbe Mbua]

Entrepreneur Online,

You are mistaken. The DHL is a reputable international service. They check their goods before they are sent. It is therefore impossible for the aggrieved gentleman to send illegal drugs through DHL.

I do not believe the gentleman is "thoughtless" as you say. On the other hand, I believe he is thoughtful since he was able to compare more than one situation.

Mr. Dipoko, comparing two bad situations does not solve a problem. To compare a computer freeze in Seattle to that of what Mr. Timah experienced in Cameroon is a non-starter. It appears some wish to wallow in mediocrity while others want excellence. Mr. Timah avers for excellence. Respect that.

[Alain Dipoko, Yabassi Boy.]

THE BIRTH OF MEDIOCRITY AND CORRUPTION IN THE CAMEROON ADMINISTRATIVE SET UP.

Cameroon, with all her problems today, once had an envious place in the arena of nations in Africa as a country where things worked. We used to be the beacon of all. Senegalese, Namibians, South Africans, Malians, Nigeriennes, and of course the usual locusts Nigerians, have all called Cameroon home. Yaoundé was called euphorically before 1972, as small Paris. For long, we served and still serve as an economic powerhouse. Gabon, Chad, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea always looked up to Cameroun for guidance. So what went wrong?

The most inconvenient truth that has cost us our reputation is the so called plebiscite of 1961; we entered with the Anglos that materialized to the referendum in 1972. We lost our innocence just as a virgin losses her virginity. The coming of the Anglophones to Yaoundé in 1972 was the saddest thing that happened to the pure, exceptionally transparent, and efficient administrative system ever known south of the Sahara.

Anglophones brought with them the scams, fraud and corruption they carefully studied from the Nigerians during their sad and unproductive period of autonomous status with that nation. What have we not seen from the Anglos since 1972? Everything known in a corrupt society. We saw Anglos using academic certificates and diplomas of both the living and the dead relatives. An anglo would lay claims to qualifications he never earned. We saw secretaries who never even knew how to type. As it is often said, the child learns from the father or mother; John Ngu Foncha, himself applied his own version of 419 appropriately. His official birth certificate as of 1999 showed he was 67 years old. Never mind that, that man has been in politics for almost half a century. We were wondering whether he started politics in the mother’s womb. It is all an anglo thing.

Mutengene, Kumba, and Nkwen are fondly called as Embassies. It is a word that carries with it all the literary meaning of it. All passports of the world and visas are meticulously imitated. Surprisingly some of them sailed through at most airports in Europe and North America. Anglophone ingenuity at its best.

Let’s look at the bigger picture on the government. The Anglophone accounting system has a lot of loopholes that encourage fraud. For instance, in balancing the books, an accountant is given a slight percentage for a margin of error. Most Anglophone accountants and administrators have exploited this to swindle huge sums of government money. Do you now see why Cameroon is bleeding economically? Look at the CDC finances. They are in shambles as if a category five hurricane passed through the strong room of that corporation we revamped with our money. What a disgrace of a system? Who takes the blame? Hey the guy across the Moungo towards the Wouri. Hypocrisy at its worst.

Francophones have been known to respect and uphold the law. Look at this pest called feymania ruining the image of Cameroon. Who are at the forefront? Of course Anglos. Maxi Sopo, a native of Limbe as identified by the Embassy of the Republic of Cameroun in Washington, did it a gain just as the son of General James Tataw, who took part in a bank heist that succeeded but he stupidly ran his mouth and ego. He is languishing in jail big time.

My in-law Egbe Louis Mboua once wrote that West Cameroun had a buoyant economy as a result of shrewd business acumen yet with all the huge foreign reserves that economy stashed in London, the money was not ploughed back into the economy to dis-enclave his native Manyu Division which is still pretty much a prehistoric landscape. It is easier to go to Akwaya through Nigeria than from Mamfe. What evidence therefore do Anglos have to show of their shrewd economic acumen? I have always called the Anglos as noise makers. There is a lot of evidence to prove it.

Let’s touch the touchiest point of all – roads in the former West Cameroon. It is a sad thing that in the month of September, women and children are not very welcome at motor parks in buses plying the Kumba -Mamfe Road axel because they won’t be able to push those buses stuck in the mud. In going to Bachuo, I had to use a helicopter belonging to the army. What a nightmare? Have a look at the video posted on you tube on the roads of Kumbo. Is that not a death trap? With all the money West Cameroon stashed in London, why did the roads remain in that poor state? Noise is good to make when no one knows the truth.

The truth about West Cameroon is that development was and is still stifled by Anglos themselves. My uncle, who was minister of territorial administration, told me a mouth gapping story about S.T Muna. As a way to placate the Anglos, Ahidjo asked him to select from a variety of development projects to be brought to his native land. The alternatives included among many things; a tertiary institution of learning, hospital, prison and police academy. God forbid my uncle said to his surprise Muna chose the construction of a prison. His reason? Because the folks in his village are criminally inclined and need to be put in constant check. Do you now doubt why we treat you Anglophones with suspicion? Your superiors or elites told us about you. The real enemy to the Anglophone is the Anglophone himself and not the francophone.

Next time you talk of corruption or feymania remember to look at your own backyard.

[Jam]

Is there anything remotely illogical or out of place with a parcel taking 4 days to cover 13700km and 5 days to cover 20km?
I think we should be comtemplating on how we can improve our beloved country rather than searching the globe for what is worse.
Do we deserve the worst?
And what has that got to do with anglophones, Muna, Foncha et al ?
It appears till Muna ,Foncha and the rest get up from their graves and right thier "wrongs" anglophones are not allowed to express themselves.
If you have a job(s) to offer and a military helicopter to fly you when roads are bad that is wonderful, and hopefully should be of interest to someone .

Jam

[Dr M-A Kumbongsi]

Who is this tunnel vision 'visionary' of Alain Dipoko pouring out invectives of misrepresentations and untruths about what he calls anglophones? He should be properly schooled about what former British Southern Cameroons was like in several endeavors before the 'unholy marriage' in 1961 with La Republique Du Cameroon, the name the former french trust territory acquired on January 1, 1960 when it attained 'independence' from France. There is a lot for him to learn and be properly enlightened first about the true history of what he refers to as francophones, secondly the anglophones and thirdly the evolution(call illegal transformation)to the current state of affairs prevalent in the place.

[Enow]

Mr Alain Dipoko, by the way i really lack words to describe you with your comments regarding our fellow brother's parcel from India. If you had a presentation to talk on this topic and a specific time, you would have gone out of topic and your time limit. Even if computers get frozen in Seattle, they always make sure that their customers are satisfied as fast as possible. And that will not take more than a day to get the job done. Our brother is talking about his parcel, you are talking about fermanism, corruption, the construction of a prison and how you even took an helicopter to travel over a bad road. The only thing i will say is that, you are nothing but a BIG COWARD and at least you are trying to show us how francophones react to situations. You are really a BIG FOOL and sometimes it will be better if you close your dirty mouth instead of writing rubbish. ASSHOLE

[TANGWA LIVINUS ACHA (TLA)]

It is no strange thing anymore in Cameroon my friend. We have been so used to the system so much that when we see such situations, we only make this usual comment, "NA CAMEROON AGAIN?". It is rather unfortunate that our leaders still pretend not to know what is gong on in the administrative set-up of the country.I had a similar problem with documents I had to certify at the Nfou DO's office. Dear friends Its time we team up and make a change. We really need. We need to implement social Justice in our society.

TANGWA LIVINUS ACHA (TLA)
UNIVERSITY OF YAOUNDE II SOA
FACULTY OF LAWS AND POLITICAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF LAW

[Va Boy]

Tangwa Livinus Acha. It is not your country. We tried to fix it before. Let me assure you, it does not work. Now join us to fix OURS.

[Mike selasie]

It has happened agin. The ossupation forces of LR du cameroun have once more executed the doctrines of their yaounde forces
follow this link please. May God save the people of southern Cameroon

http://www.edennewspaper.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11051&Itemid=1

[Danny boy]

The Entrepreneur,
hear you,
"You have not told your readers what was the content of your package. Was it cocaine?"

"If it were a commodity that required customs clearance, then mindful of the timelines you present here, you got your package in pretty good time".
So it was not cocaine then?
I think you owe an apology to this forum! The blogger is a reputable Cameroonian who does not need "blood money"! Will leave it here for now!

[facter]

entrepreneur online has to be one of those softheaded CPDM stooges waiting for good things to come from his highness biya. I have been taking note of his insane comments.

[The Entrepreneur Newsoline]

Even in America there is power outage, Isn't it?

[The Entrepreneur Newsoline]

Some years back, Cameroonians required exit visa.
It no more applies. Even sons and daughters of naked peasants too can now fly. And when you do fly out do so in peace, just as Irish imigrants did then, and chinese do today.

Suprisingly, Cameroonian natives will not go in peace. They go, and want to wreck havoc, rather than positioning themselves in the economy and politics of their new lands, like Jewish imigrants, they look back with destructive nostalgia. Very strange indeed.....

Its basic: If you have nothing to contribute to move Cameroon forward, and all you have is destructive distraction, then rest in memoriam.

If you lack information, on how you could be an agent of positive change, then request for one, and assignments will be given to you....

If you are inside, and have no ideas, then graaaaaab and go join your countrymen partying in all the nooks and corners of the earth......

Perhaps, Chinese selling puff, Indians, Nigerians etc will build Cameroon...and you folks and like-minded bandwagon could return then, for then its costs nothing....to inherit Cameroon....Who ever told this boisterous bunch that nation building is cheap....

The women who give birth at home in America and cannot afford hospital bills, etc.... are they in Cameroon?.........Those who survive in soup kitchens in America are they in Kumbuo? The homeless in London are they in Batibo?

Some of you easily get carried away with illusions and because you lazily seek to inherit were you did not sow - the glitters of the west that others toiled for, now you run your mouths, pens and inks as if you could manage even a soup kitchen.......or your personal lives, wives....

The building of Cameroon is in progress. It will take years, but the task is on...some are etching their names on the pillars of construction. If you cannot be part of that effort, in the million and one ways where you could fit yourself, then graaaaabbbbbbb from here.....Its basic....

....Just for the sake of justifying your falsified asylums, you rain havoc and destruction..and scare away tourists that could bring income even to your abandoned villages...very strange indeed...SELF DESTRUCTION...

[TABOT]

WOW! WHAT A HEATED DEBATE. I ENJOY ALL WRITERS, GOOD ARGUMENTS AND COUNTER-ARGUMENTS; NOW, CAN WE GO BUILD OUR COUNTRY AND STOP POINTING FINGERS?PLEASE....

[The herald]

The Entrepreneur you seem to be saying something reasonable but not in its right context.The bone of contention here is that the existing structures are not maintained or well catered for. Accidents due to ailing or dilapidating structures occur on a daily basis.Take for instance,the two ghastly train accidents that occured recently.They were accidents that could well have been avoided if proper care was taken on the rails.We do not ask anybody to provide a brand new train route but to maintain the existing ones.Similarly,degraded or bad state of roads have contributed immensely to some of the worst accidents ever realised.

If you go to the Douala International Airport,you will see that it is a skeleton or the remains of what used to be there.Woe betide you if you try to move round some of our cities.Some of the ailing or dilapited structures will remind you of an inner city decay."The building of Cameroon is in progress" as you said.Let us maintain the existing structures before thinking of building castles in the future.

Good enough,Douala is beginning to regain some of its beauties or splendours due to repair works that are going on helter skelter.

That in a nutshell,is at least what the people are yearning for.

We critise to alert the leaders and to make them come out from the doldrums and effect change which at least is their duty from which they have deviated.
Thanks.

[Louis Egbe Mbua]

Mr. Entrepreneur Online,

You can write all you want, the fact of the matter is that the gentleman did not receive his parcel in time; and that the system is inefficient. Has he no right to be angry? Or you want to define when and where Cameroonians must be upset? This is Totalitarianism, when one man wants all to bow to his whims and caprices. Well, it will never happen.

You tend to assume, errorneaously, that living in Cameroon makes one Cameroonian more Cameroonian than the other living abroad. Wrong! Living abroad is a matter of choice which is entitled to all; and you have no way of quantifying their contribution to Cameroon. Do you have the data? Furthermore, they have every right like any one living in Cameroon to involve in debates concerning Cameroon. Do they not have relatives there? And what makes you think they do not want to return? The land of their birth is just that. It can never be withdrawn buy any form of fiat.

And please, write in a civilised manner: there are no "naked natives" in Cameroon.

[kamarad]

Someone is trying to advertise his struggling tabloid.

[The Entrepreneur Newsoline]

We can never know if Mr Njei got his parcel in good time, if we do not know the content of his package...basic!

We have all received DHL packages in Cameroon in record time, so why not him?............

Herald..so what?....
There have been train derails in Europe & America, was it Camrail that manages them? Air France, United Airlines etc have plunged into oceans uncountable times, is it ....who manages them....

You seem to think a stumbling block in Cameroon is the end of the world.....We want Cameroon to be Paradise in our lifetime....It can never happen...If only you know the machinations that traspired and still transpire for Europe and America to have the resources to be where they are now....Maybe African states too should start undermining governments and states far afield to snatch their resources.....and rebuild themselves...

You cannot expect to take out more than what you have put in....what have you put in?....

Bush stole elections twice, never heard his damn media refer to him as Bush Regime, etc...But here we are Africans using the most derogatory words to describe ourselves.....and our land....

[The herald]

It is true that we have disasters everywhere but most of our disasters are those that could have been avoided,if things were done the way they are suppose be done.So, the difference is that our disasters occur through negligence.you got the point Entrepreneur Online?

[KT man]

Mr Alain Dipoko should be told the hard truth about corruption in cameroon. It is a francophone thing not anglophone. Direct Mr Dipoko to the city hall in Paris under Chirac and his cronies-alias Alain Jupe. Does Mr Dipoko know what transpired in the city hall in Paris under the leadership of these gentlemen. Are these guys anglos or francophones. Ok, I know you will assert that they are in France and not cameroon. But Who is indirectly ruling cameroon and all other francophone countries. The sourbone in paris where every thing is learned is also in in yaounde. In yaounde it is called ENAM. Origin of all frudulent mischiefs in cameroon and beyond. The last time I checked, there was no branch of ENAM west of the mungo. How about this for the origin of corruption in cameroon.
Bonjour monsieur le professeur. Hey, if you're really a professor, why are you in an anglophone country. Something must be really spukky with the francophone system and thats why they are all streaming to the US and Britain. Oh cameroon thou cradle of ENAM. Makes sense to ya buddy.

[Gan Charles]

Mr. Alan Dipoko: If Anglos are so corrupt and you blame Cameroons problem on them why no let them go? Anglos now know the pact with Francophones is not working. We want to govern ourselves. LET US GO!

[manawar]

Dear brothers and sisters, you can see what our government official are doing with our money and people are dying back at home.

To: wimbum@yahoogroups. com; ex-ghs-nkambe@ yahoogroups. com
From: reuelsontough@ yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:32:08 -0700
Subject: [wimbum] Embezzlement at Cameroon Embassy in USA

September 12, 2009

Mr. François Ngoubene
Percepteur
9001 Gettysburg Lane
College Park , MD 20740

Dear Mr. Ngoubene,

It has been brought to our attention that you and your family have been involved with squandering an exorbitant amount of money and resources from the Cameroon government and its taxpayers. Over the years since you were assigned to the Cameroon Embassy in Washington , DC , your embezzlement of public funds has been enormous. This was made possible by the huge payments for unrelated official expenses like the following:

a) Life and medical insurance for your family and your girl friend, Ms. Angeli Abitangbina from WAMSI Life and Health in the monthly amount of $8,402.08.
b) Monthly mortgage payments for your home, $4,061.73 and that of your concubine $761.59 both withdrawn from the Embassy of Cameroon’s account with Sun Trust Bank.
c) Tuition and other ineligible expenses for your children who attended Georgetown University .
d) Money laundering for Cameroonian officials and others, a very serious “criminal offense”.
e) Purchasing and building of homes in the United States and Cameroon for you and your above named concubine.

Your withdrawal of money from the Embassy’s accounts for your PERSONAL use and that of your family, concubine and friends in just 2007 alone, amounted to over US$1 million dollars. We have verifications for documents from Citibank and Eagle Bank to substantiate and defend our accusations.

Could you explain why the bank account of the Cameroon Embassy has your home address and not that of the Embassy on 2349 Massachusetts Avenue? In our research, there is evidence to prove that no other diplomatic representation in Washington, DC , except Cameroon , has an employee using his home address for official and business accounts. Is this why the Cameroon Embassy’s accounts with local banks were closed for illegal activities? Can you also justify having seven (7) cars registered in your name and those of your family members with the US State Department with diplomatic licenses.

You have been engaged in these dishonorable practices since you transferred from Belgium to the United States with impunity claiming that you are “untouchable” because of your connections with some government officials in Cameroon . Please note that these illegal activities have not gone unnoticed. They have indeed been documented and reported to both the governments of the United States and Cameroon .

Below is an example of some of your monthly expenditures out of the Embassy of Cameroon’s account:

1) Check # 5178 to your wife, Therese Ngoubene US$ 5,000.00
2) Check # 5000 to your daughter, Caroline US$ 5,000.00
3) Check # 5176 to your son, Dany US$ 3,738.83
4) Checks # 5179, 5168 & 4126 to your driver, Assoua Jean
($5,000 each) US$15,000.00
5) Checks # 5170 & 5173 to your friend, Metuk Charles US$10,000.00
6) Check # 5170 to your Adm. Asst., Mbassa Patience US$ 5,000.00

As for your concubine, Ms. Abitangbina Angeli, you can recall that in 2007, she received among other checks, the amount of US$40,000 for home leave to Cameroon which was deemed unacceptable by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The following monthly checks, #5188: US$3,194.44; # 5087: US$3,028.74 & #5207: US$4,352.00 were also issued to her.

Please be informed that these illegal activities of yours have been brought to the attention of the Cameroon government and its citizens (taxpayers), and the US government for prosecution. We can no longer be silent especially about the most serious crime of “money laundering” in the United States and other developed countries that are providing donor funds to countries in Africa that people like you and others are misusing to enrich yourselves.

Sincerely,

Concerned Citizens of the Republic of Cameroon

Cc: -H.E. Joseph Bienvenu Foe Atangana, Ambassador of the Republic of Cameroon
-H.E. Henri Eyebe Ayissi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Cameroon
-H.E. Essimi Menye, Minister of Finance, Republic of Cameroon
-National Committee for fight against Corruption (CONAC) Cameroon
- US Department, Africa Desk
-Cameroon Citizens in the USA