Cameroon: Public health minister orders CONGELCAM comply with inspection of cold houses

Several Cameroonians, for some time now, have been complaining about the quality of fish sold by popular cold house CONGELCAM, which controls about 80 per cent of fish market in the country.

Cases of denizen purchasing fishes already at a state of decomposition from CONGELCAM’s cold stores in different parts of the country.
And despite requests by customers for refunds at the cold stores, the plea have always been turned down.

A regular customer at one of the CONGELCAM’s branches in Douala identified as Marie Tchameni, narrates her experience.
“I remember buying 2kg of fish from CONGELCAM Missoke in Douala,” the mother of four began narrating to MMI.

“When I arrived home, I found out that the fish were rotten and when I took them to the cold store for them to refund my money, so I could go (and) buy something fresh elsewhere, they categorically refused to refund my money,” said the Douala denizen.

She told MMI that she was drove out of their cold store.

“I can never buy fish at CONGELCAM again,” Tchameni vowed, adding that “CONGELCAM is so fond of this. They use their popular brand to sell products in bad state to the customers. I cannot recommend them to anyone”.

Tchameni case is just one of many cases reported by Cameroonians.

Minister’s intervention
Worried about this, the Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie, had ordered for an inspection of CONGELCAM cold houses.

However, the company dealing in importation and sale of fishes owned by Senator Sylvestre Ngouchinghe are said to have denied the inspection team from the health ministry access to the warehouse.

In a letter send to the head of the company on August 24, 2023, Dr Manaouda Malachie reaffirmed that the inspection team were rightly sent by him and warns against any refusal which may attract reprisal.

“The report of the inspection and control mission carried out by the technical teams of the Ministry of Health at the RTC mentions the unsatisfactory storage temperatures of the fishery products imported by your company,” the minister told the company’s Chief Executive Officer in the letter which only resurfaced recently,

“Following this, I instructed a mission to evaluate the conservation capacities of your cold rooms as well as sampling for microbiological and physico-chemical analysis,” Minister Manaouda Malachie continued and regretted, “I was told of a categorical refusal to this inspection”.

The minister reminded the company’s management that Articles 8 and 20 of the 2018 Law on food safety, requires them to submit within eight days to the inspection and sanitary control of its facilities and food products released for human consumption.
Failure of complying with the law, he warns, could attract drastic administrative and criminal sanctions.

What do make of the ministry’s decision? Have you ever bought fish from CONGELCAM? What was your experience with the product?