To avoid 5kg minimum declaration: Illegal gold operators manipulating population in East region.

The situation, especially in Kambele, Kadey Division of the East Region, going by keen observers, raises many questions, pointing clearly to manipulation and instrumentalisation of the population, by those illegally feeding fat in the sector. 

The resistance from illegal miners was once again brought to the fore during a recent field mission to the East Region, by the Interim Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Prof Fuh Calistus Gentry. 

Going by keen observers, a closer look suggests that the problems in the sector are not accidental. 

To those versed with the sector, the resistance to implement order, is clearly shaped by individuals. 

The Kambele situation has raised more questions than provide answers as to whether artisanal mining is being developed as a pathway for local empowerment, or is it being tolerated as a grey zone that benefits a few at the expense of many.

The minister’s enforcement mission to Kadey and Lom and Djerem Divisions, from April 26 to 29, 2026, was conducted in collaboration with the Secretariat of State for Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie, SED, and the Permanent National Secretariat for Kimberley Process.

The minister said the enforcement mission was geared towards improving gold mining activities in the East Region, where about 175 identified illegal mining operations were ongoing. 

He said it was also to restore order in the sector and support government’s efforts to develop the Cameroonian economy by optimising State revenue. 

During the three-day visit, the minister and delegation touched down on Betare-Oya, Kette, Kambele and Batouri, where he oversaw the complete dismantling of production units operating on illegal mining sites.

He also seized production equipment used by illegal operators as well as sensitised stakeholders on the procedure for granting strictly defined artisanal mining permits. 

The minister also used the mission to educate the operators operating on semi-mechanised scale to adhere to new technological innovations by migrating to a closed-circuit gold processing system within a period of six months. 

Exposes illegal miners to population 

During the last day of the mission, a group of supposed artisanal miners preventing the MINMIDT team from dismantling illegal mining productions units in Kambele staged a protest. 

Following the resistance, a town hall meeting was organised in Batouri to edify the population on the purposed of their mission and the interest of the State, which was being, jeopardised by the continuation of illegal mining operations. 

After close to two hours of deliberation, the population, together with local authorities and other stakeholders, all reached the agreement to respect State laws and to operate in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Mining Code. 

Warning against manipulation and instrumentalisation of the population, the minister said Cameroon has the choice to accept legality and prosperity or illegality and drown in poverty. 

“First element is manipulation. We have to visit the site. If you are illegal, you want to prevent and use the population as a shield to cover your activities. Unfortunately, we have seen that only in Kambele, which has no deterrent effect on the national programme,” Prof Fuh said, when quizzed on the resistance to the reform.

“Our shock is that what the President of the Republic gave to Kambele as a gift is being exploited by people who are not of Kambele and the lives of the people of Kambele have not changed. So it is not in their interest [population] to be manipulated,” he further told the press.

Noting that the choice of following legality or illegality belongs to Cameroonians and the people of Kadey Division in particular, he said the programme to ensure the revamping of artisanal sector has been put in place and if implemented strictly, it will become a benchmark for what the State will get from the sector. 

Based on the positive discussions with the different stakeholders, the member of government also said he hoped that the National Mining Corporation, SONAMINES, will become powerful and transparent in the collection of State revenue, once all identified illegal mining sites have been shut down.

More operators adhering to comply with reforms 

The minister’s working visit to the East Region ended on a positive note, as more and more mining operators, be it during the field visits or stakeholders meeting in Batouri, took the commitment to comply with the reforms.

During the town hall meeting for example, some operators pledged to work hard to regularise their situation. The initial resistance from the operators, he said, was due to ignorance of the reforms. He, however, said he remains optimistic after the important meeting.

“The problem that has existed up to now is that there is a disparity between what is produced and what is declared. Therefore, the minimum declaration that we have put in place has come to solve that problem,” the minister said. 

He added that: “If we follow this program, we are going to have almost seven tons of gold declared...but already, within just the three days of launching, we already have 15 companies which have lined up and agreed to comply with the reforms”.

He also assured stakeholders that government is willing to accompany the companies to transit to the new system of closed-circuit gold processing. 

Once the companies all migrate to the new system, he asserted that the problem of non-declaration or under declaration of gold produced will be totally solved and that the disparity between Cameroonian gold on the international market and what is actually produced will automatically disappear. 

“I have to accept my country’s laws”

Mrs Mpeia Rabiatou is amongst the 15 mining operators that pledged to adhere to the conditions set by the mining code. The boss of Zinnarry Sarl, a mining company operating in Kette, signed a pledge in the presence of administrative authorities and local stakeholders, to make a minimum declaration of 5kg of gold for her ten wet pan mill also known as bowls. 

“I have to accept the rules that go with it. I have to accept my country’s laws. In my company, with my partners, we have 10 employees. For each of the 10 bowls, we were required to provide a 5-kilogram per month,” she said. 

She also expressed their readiness to make the deposit of 63 million FCFA environmental bond. 

“If we didn’t pay that upfront from the start, it’s because there wasn’t already an account to deposit that money into. So now that the account exists, and we’re being asked to comply with the law, why not comply with our country’s laws? It helps the country move forward,” she insisted.

Kimberley Process aiding government to sanitise sector

The Permanent National Secretariat of the Kimberley Process, SNPPK, in Cameroon has been playing a strategic role in helping government cleanse the gold and diamond sectors in the country. 

The Permanent National Secretary of the Kimberley Process, Dr Daniel Mackaire Eloung Nna, said they have been active on the ground, since its inception, in monitoring production and ensuring the traceability of gold and diamonds in the country.

Despite being sideline in the monitoring of gold production and traceability by certain actors in the mining sector, the engineer revealed that they still retain maintain control over the mapping of artisanal and semi-mechanised gold and diamond mining in Cameroon. 

Determined to ensure the reform of the semi-mechanised mining sector, the SNPPK official said they provided the information on where the semi-mechanised mining sites are located; thanks to their fairly tight network on the ground.

“The minister has requested our support; we are working in full collaboration to try to clean up this sector. Not only to locate and identify all these companies, but also to bring those that wish to continue their operations into compliance with legal and regulatory provisions,” Engineer Eloung Nna said. 

Noting that an SNPPK study exposed the disparity in the declarations made by operators and the actual levels of production on the ground, Eloung Nna said government had been deprived of a significant amount of revenue, which will be put to rest with the implementation of the minimum production threshold for companies operating in the semi-mechanised sector.

“To better control and track production, it was essential to establish a production framework and the minister signed a document to establish the production threshold. This allows the government to control gold production, better track that production, replenish the state coffers, and build our country’s gold reserve,” he added.

Praises minister’s openness, frank dialogue

The Mayor of Batouri, Auberlin Mbelessa, praised the MINMIDT boss for his openness. He noted that frank dialogue helped the population understand that while artisanal mining is authorised, those using large machines like excavators (bols) must migrate to semi-mechanised category and pay the required fees.

“The Minister was clear; he does not want operators to continue using excavators to extract minerals because they fall under semi-mechanisation. He wishes for those in this situation to migrate as soon as possible,” the mayor pointed out.

The mayor also thanked the Head of State for prioritising social dialogue. “There were many misunderstandings at the start... Dialogue helped calm tensions and allowed everyone to reach a consensus. We hope this continues in the future,” Mbelessa added.

Sector to generate 1,000 billion FCFA in State revenue 

At the end of the working visit, the minister expressed satisfaction with the response of the companies in the sector, which committed to conforming to legality in all ramifications. 

Operators who had previously been under-declaring their production pledged to comply with the new minimum monthly production thresholds of 5kg or 7kg of gold, depending on the scale of operations. 

“They have reasoned with us and I can say that we have a success rate of almost 95% of our mission. We have seen people who used to pay 600grams have moved up to 5kg per month. People who used to pay 2kg have moved up to 7kg and those who have not been declaring, have taken the commitment to comply,” Prof Fuh Calistus said as he sum up the mission. 

Furthermore, follow-up committees, comprising Mayors, Divisional Officers, DOs and Senior Divisional Officers, SDOs of the concerned areas, was set up to ensure no further activities are carried out on the illegal mining sites. The committee is also tasked with ensuring that the minimum production threshold declaration is respected on a monthly basis. 

For the minister, the target is to attain about 100 companies that operate in full compliance of the law, which will in turn boost government's capacity of generating State revenue. 

Beside compliance to environmental obligation, which consist of payment of a 63 million FCFA bond for 21 hectares, the operators also have tax obligation to comply with, which include final discharge mining tax of 25%, 5% of export tax, and 1.5 % for mining policy implementation fund. 

“…if we are to do that, this country will be able to have from the gold subsector artisanal alone, almost 1,000 billion FCFA. It will contribute to the development of this nation,” the minister noted. 

Targeted xenophobic attacks on Prof Fuh Calistus 

To note that, Minister Prof Fuh Calistus, has since assuming the interim at the mines ministry been the victim of several attacks. Observers say most of the attacks have been overt and covert.

They are citing the Wednesday, April 29, 2026, open xenophobic and primitive attacks on the member of government as telling of an old trend that has simply been activated by hidden networks trafficking gold.

Many are saying it is the first time in the country’s history that a minister is being attacked, based on where he comes from. 

Many have condemned the protests and verbal attacks mostly carried out by a crowd of locals, believed to have been sponsored against Minister Fuh Calistus, who has been modernising the sector as demanded by the Head of State.

Prof Fuh Calistus' only crime, it has now been fully established, is that he doesn't hail from the East Region. 

It should be said that the people of the East Region, whether the educated or uneducated, seem to share the opinion that only one of theirs must head the mines ministry; since their Region, according to them, harbors the greatest quantity of mineral deposits. 

Meanwhile, the nation has unanimously risen up against the xenophobic and verbal attacks on Prof Fuh Calistus Gentry; warning what transpired in the East Region last week is a bad precedence that must not be allowed to continue. 

Many are recalling that since the creation of SONARA, located in Limbe, Fako Division of the South West Region, in 1972, no Anglophone has ever served as General Manager or Deputy General Manager of the National Oil Refining Company Limited! 

Notwithstanding, observers say, Anglophones and indigenes of the South West Region have never raised the argument that only one of theirs must be General Manager of the State corporation.

Event at the level of institutions such as the Port Authority of Douala, PAD, the current Director General, Cyrus Ngo’o, native of the East Region, is the one calling the shots; but no one from Douala or the Littoral Region has ever attacked him or raised a finger agains his being the Port AuthorityofDouala General Manager.

Crude oil, analysts add, is being drilled from Ndian Division, in the South West Region, yet, the Minister of Water and Energy Resources is not from the Division or Region. 

Judging from last week's attacks on the interim mines minister in the East Region; more because he is not from the Region but heading the said ministry, political watchers have warned that if authorities don't immediately step in to put an end to such primitive thinking and actions, it would be a serious threat to national unity, living together and competence.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3779 of Monday May 04, 2026