Teacher Cries Foul After Being Listed Among Staff Allegedly Living Abroad
A government secondary school teacher in Bamenda, North West Region of Cameroon has raised alarm after his name reportedly appeared on a Ministry of Secondary Education list of personnel accused of abandoning duty and residing abroad. He is not alone. “We were about half a dozen of us,” the teacher told MMI News.
The teacher, who asked MMI News to keep his identity anonymous for fear of victimisation, said he has been actively teaching since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis and was shocked to be classified among staff who had allegedly left the country.
“I’m a government teacher who has been doing my job effectively, diligently and with integrity since the outbreak of the Anglophone sociopolitical crisis,” he told MMI News.
According to him, he taught throughout the school year, prepared end-of-year examinations, marked scripts, filled marks, completed the cahier de texte, and signed both class and school attendance logbooks.
He also said he took part in the biometric census organised by the Ministry of Secondary Education in April, alongside his principal and other colleagues.
“To my greatest dismay, my name alongside those of some colleagues who are very effective in school came out on the list of teachers who have abandoned duty and travelled abroad,” he said.
The Ministry of Secondary Education, in a communiqué dated June 15, 2026, invited personnel identified as residing outside Cameroon after the biometric and physical census to report to its premises in Yaoundé within 14 days to clarify their administrative situation.
Those concerned are required to present several documents, including a valid identity card, authorisation to travel abroad, census forms, an attestation of effective service, a clarification letter covering the last three years, a recruitment decision, and a recent payslip.
But the teacher insists the list is unreliable and unfairly targets teachers who are still serving in Cameroon.
“I’ve never ever applied to travel abroad,” he said. “Those of us doing the job are being tormented while those absent are enjoying free salaries.”
He further alleged that some teachers who have actually abandoned their posts and travelled abroad are not on the list because they have “bought their way out.”
“The disheartening fact is that those teachers who have actually abandoned duty and travelled abroad are not found on the list because they’ve bought their way out,” he claimed.
The teacher questioned the method used by the ministry to identify staff allegedly living outside Cameroon, saying the process has created fear among active teachers.
“I don’t know the criteria the Minister of Secondary Education is using to track this fake, unreliable list,” he said. “What crime did teachers ever commit by becoming teachers in Cameroon?”
He also linked the controversy to recent difficulties in the education sector, including the postponement of the GCE examinations following reported leakages.
“GCE candidates are currently traumatised after the postponement of the GCE due to leakages we don’t know how they came about,” he said. “Now effective teachers are being threatened with salary suspension if they don’t report to Yaoundé within 14 days.”
The teacher described the matter as “a serious cause for concern” and called for accountability from the Ministry of Secondary Education.
“We need accountability on the methods they’re using to track teachers who have actually abandoned service,” he said. “From every indication, they’ve failed woefully to deliver competency, transparency and accountability by delivering fake results.”
He claimed that many of those listed are still in Cameroon and actively teaching.
“Ninety percent of those names on the list are teachers who are actually based in Cameroon, effectively teaching, and did the biometric census,” he alleged. “But a mafia was done that they are out of the country.”
The teacher also alleged that some countries listed against the names of affected staff were fabricated.
“Fabricated countries that we’re out of Cameroon, which is a fat lie,” he said. “The mistakes are deliberate.”
MMI News has not independently verified all the allegations made by the teacher. However, the complaint raises questions about the accuracy of the ministry’s teacher verification process and the possible impact on staff who say they are still serving in crisis-hit regions.
The Ministry of Secondary Education has not yet publicly responded to these specific allegations.
MMI News