By Tata Mbunwe
The Cameroon Bar Council President, Mbah Eric Mbah, has decried an ongoing governmental crackdown on teachers who want to leave the country for greener pastures, stating that it “doesn’t make sense.”
In an interview with Equinoxe TV, Batonnier Mbah Eric stated that stopping teachers from traveling abroad, a widely reported phenomenon in Cameroon, violates their right to freedom of movement.
“It doesn’t makes sense. It doesn’t. If I don’t want to stay in Cameroon and work it is not by blocking me at the airport that I will stay,” he said.
The Bar President mentioned that the government needs to tackle the root cause of the emigration problem Cameroon has been facing under President Paul Biya’s four-decade rule, rather than chasing shadows.
“You don’t solve a problem by trying to attack the superficial or the peripheral looks of it. What is the cause of the brain drain? Why would somebody get trained up to this level and at one moment he decides that he doesn’t want to be? How many times have we reduced salaries in this country? How many times have we correspondently increased prices of basic commodities? What is the cause of basic health facilities?
“Those are the issues that we should be looking at. What we should be looking at is not to put police at the airports at the frontiers to block people from traveling but it is to put incentives to make people stay; make staying comfortable. There’s no other thing that can make people love staying than making it comfortable,” the Bar Council President noted.
Cameroonian teachers who want to travel abroad, particularly those employed by the State, have reportedly been facing harassment, discrimination and exploitation at airports in the country.
Airport authorities, notably at the Douala International Airport, have reportedly been preventing teachers from leaving, stating that it is based on the instructions from the government.
Although Cameroonian authorities have made no official statement barring teachers from traveling abroad, activists have been raising eyebrows about the phenomenon.
Cameroonian activist, Ndifor Richard, has been among those decrying the practice.
In a public statement last week, he said it is discriminatory and it violates the right to freedom of movement.
He alleged that some teachers have been subjected to exploitation from airport officials and forced to pay huge sums of money to bribe their way at the airport.
“In recent years, the treatment of teachers at Cameroonian airports, particularly at the Douala International Airport, has become a cause for concern. Airport authorities have claimed that they are acting on orders to prevent teachers from traveling without proper authorization. However, what is happening in reality is an outright exploitation of teachers, with demands for bribes reaching exorbitant amounts, sometimes as high as CFA 500,000frs,” Ndifor Richard said.
He also remarked on the need for the government to tackle the root cause of brain drain instead of discriminately targeting teachers.
“Instead of resorting to such restrictive measures, the government should focus on understanding the reasons behind the increasing number of teachers leaving the country and take steps to address the root causes,” he said.
The Cameroon Bar Council President said the institution has written to the government demanding an immediate stop to the victimization of teachers, who are not the only category of professionals emigrating from Cameroon.
TEACHERS AT THE CENTER OF CRACKDOWN
The government says teachers are increasingly abandoning their jobs for greener pastures abroad, but continue to receive salaries.
This does not only involve teachers, but other civil servants as well.
Since 2018, different government Ministries have been enforcing a campaign the cleanse the public service of absentee teachers and other public servants who are thought to have abandoned their jobs and traveled abroad.
In 2021, the Minister of Secondary Education, Nalova Lyonga, threatened to dismiss 600 teachers who had reportedly abandoned their jobs and traveled abroad but were still collecting salaries.
In January this year, Minister Nalova announced the suspension of salaries of 2,326 teachers across the nation for abandoning duties. Many of the absentee teachers were from the two English-speaking Regions of the country, where armed conflict has put teachers’ lives at risk.
NOT ONLY TEACHERS
The brain drain phenomenon has been a cause for concern in Cameroon for several years now, not only among teachers, but among other professionals as well.
Mostly the country’s young people, particularly those who are educated and trained, are on the constant drive to seek greener pastures abroad, be it through whatever means, including seeking asylum.
In his message to the youths on February 10 2024, President Paul Biya, whose government has been blamed for making the country hostile to citizens, beseeched youths to stay in Cameroon and make it at home.
“The growing desire of a fringe of our youths to emigrate to other climes is increasingly a cause for concern, especially when it becomes an obsession and even affects people who are well integrated into their local communities,” he said.
“Obviously, our country, like many others around the world, is facing difficulties. However, leaving is not always the solution.
“Emigrate? Yes, but not at all costs. Moreover, you should know that while you yearn to leave, many foreigners are trying to settle in Cameroon, thereby confirming that ours is a hospitable country and a land of opportunities,” he said.
Analysts say the emigration drive in Cameroon is fueled by factors like unemployment, economic hardship, injustice, corruption, lack of freedom of expression and conflict.
The Cameroon Bar President, Mbah Eric Mbah, asserted that Cameroonians would want to stay in the country if they find it more comfortable for them.
Mbah Eric, who has been quite vocal on national since his election in June 2022, said the Bar is open to help any Cameroonians whose right has been infringed upon, including the teachers being purportedly barred from traveling abroad.
