Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Esther FOSSI
Published on 2024-03-04 08:49:32
The announcement of suspension was made on March 1, 2024 by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
Despite Cameroon’s efforts to improve the availability of data on extractive industry company payments and government revenues, the EITI demands greater involvement of civil society.
According to RFI, Cameroon received an overall score that was “quite low.” This international organization ensures that member countries’ natural resources are exploited transparently and for the benefit of citizens. Its board expresses “deep concern” regarding civil society and reminds Cameroon that in order to fulfill its commitments in implementing the EITI standard, it “must protect civil society actors from harassment, intimidation, or persecution if they express their opinions on the governance of the oil, gas, and mining sectors.”
“Weaknesses are noted in civil society’s engagement in the EITI and its ability to use the process to influence public decision-making. These challenges are related to a lack of accountability of the majority of civil society representatives within the multipartite group (MSG) and broader governance issues,” as stated in the EITI document.
Cameroon’s next validation will take place in April 2027, and the country will need to address corrective measures for around twenty requirements. In addition, all process stakeholders must have a clear understanding of the stricter 2023 standard, which focuses on issues such as beneficial ownership and energy transition.
“I am very saddened by this suspension of our country from the EITI, the second of its kind in less than three years. I am especially sad because I modestly contributed, alongside Minister Abah Abah, to Cameroon’s entry into this initiative (London 2007) but mostly because the GLENCORE case is one of the reasons, even though we made proposals that could have prevented this. In the end, the opacity in the management of our extractive industry is only the result of systemic corruption. Hopefully, with this, they will uncover the names of the destroyers of our country at GLENCORE,” expressed Me Akere Muna.
Read the original article(French) on Journal du Cameroun
