Mines ministry not a preserve of a particular region!.

At a time the country is grappling with mountains of debts and in dire straits of cash, the minister's objective has been to scoop in money from the flourishing gold mining subsector in which, for several years the State has not been having its equitable share.

In the cleansing process, the minister announced the withdrawal of semi-mechanised artisanal mining permits granted to non-compliant operators, following a meeting with SONAMINES and stakeholders in the sector.

As it was agreed at the meeting, illegal operators were given 15 days to comply with regulatory requirements, including payment of site rehabilitation deposits and signing of specification contracts.

It was after that period of grace that a dismantling operation to have about 100 companies that will operate in full compliance of the law to boost government's capacity of generating State revenue, was put in gear.

Beside the financial benefit to the State treasury, the operators will also comply with environmental responsibility, which consists of payment of a 63 million FCFA bond for 21 hectares.

The operators also have a tax obligation to pay for the final discharge mining tax of 25%, export tax of 5 percent, and 1.5% for mining policy implementation fund.

Among the main requirements imposed on operators also include the declaration of a minimum 5kg per month, the transition to a closed-system mining operation within six months, and the completion of preliminary studies for new sites.

The ministry specifies that these are "preliminary measures" essential for any potential lifting of the suspensions applicable to all operators, regardless of nationality.

In the words of Minister Fuh Calistus, “...if we are to do that, this country will be able to raise from the gold subsector artisanal alone, almost 1,000 billion FCFA. It will contribute to the development of this nation”.

For the egoistic, and heartless gold operators without conscience, the minister deserves to be crucified, instead of being showered with encomiums for such nationalistic action.

Before the minister had the audacity to tackle the devilish bulls by the horn, there were media reports that Cameroon risked 165 billion FCFA in tax losses from illegal gold exports.

Cameroon’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, EITI, 2023 report had highlighted deep inconsistencies in the country’s gold sector.

Official customs data pointed out that only 22.3kg of gold were exported in 2023, a figure that contrasted sharply with international statistics, particularly from the United Arab Emirates, which reported imports of 15.2 tons of gold from the country over the same period.

A recent report by EITI divulged that there is significant ambiguity surrounding gold production, with a huge gap between official exports and the volumes declared by importing countries due to lack of transparency. It fueled suspicions of massive smuggling, tax evasion (estimated at 165 billion FCFA), and "a mining sector largely operating outside State control". 

Prof Fuh Calistus has commendably put an end to that cartel. He has protected the ecosystems, and increased revenues for the State treasury.

Law-abiding operators have no reason to grumble, but for the egoistic individuals and their tribal hooligans who want his head. God forbid!

At a time the government is singing the hallelujah of "living together", it is a sacrilege to imagine that individuals drunk with xenophobic instincts and illicit wealth from illegal gold mining operations are groping for their "son of the soil" to be minister of mines. It cannot be so!

The National Oil Refining Company, SONARA, is located in Limbe, Fako Division in the South West Region. Since its creation in 1975, no indigene of Fako Division or the South West Region or an Anglophone, has never been SONARA General Manager or even Deputy General Manager. 

Though located on Anglophone soil, the unofficial working language at SONARA is French! In addition, the overwhelming majority of senior and junior staff there are Francophones. 

Despite this, Anglophones have never been heard publicly grumbling that the company is the persevered of the natives of the South West Region. 

It is same thing in Ndian Division in the South West Region, where crude oil is being extracted to keep the country running.

Notwithstanding, the indigenes of Ndian or the South West Region, have never demanded to have one of theirs as Minister of Water and Energy Resources. 

Another example of nationalism is in Douala, where the current Director General of Port Authority of Douala, PAD, Cyrus Ngo’o, though a native of the East Region, is at home with the people of Douala and the Littoral Region, in tandem with the spirit of living together.

So, why the sacrilege of a verbal diatribe against a minister doing his work with impeccable objectives of patriotism, competence and transparency?

The Guardian Post, in unequivocal terms condemn such vicious tribal attacks, which of course are not supported by the majority of the patriotic compatriots of the East Region.

Advocates of national unity are categorical that it is foolhardy for those spewing hate and clamouring the replacement of the lnterim Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, to think the Head of State, a guarantor of the country’s oneness and togetherness, will bow to such pressure. 

Let it sink into the head and heart of the people of the East Region, which such xenophobic and primitive thinking, that they should not, and never misinterpret the discretion which the Head of State made in the past, by appointing only indigenes of the Region to head the ministry of mines. They should also be reminded to stop thinking and dreaming that the ministry of mines is a preserve of the East Region. 

At The Guardian Post, we join our voices to those of other nationalists preaching national unity and living together, to urge the Head of State, not to bow to the pressure and blackmail from the East Region. 

Time is running out for errors made in the past cabinet shake-ups; where only indigenes of the East Region were appointed ministers of mines, to be corrected.

Anything short of that will not only set a dangerous precedent, but will ultimately rubbish the regime's much-trumpeted national unity and living together. 

Additionally, that will mean encouraging and pampering haters of social cohesion and bowing to anti-republican pressures and blackmail. 

As for the interim minister of mines, the verbal assaults directed at him in the East Region last week, should reinforce his audacity and strengthen his will to continue with the cleansing of a subsector that has for several been controlled by a selfish criminal cartel to the detriment of the common purse.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3780 of Tuesday May 05, 2026