By A.J
Orange Cameroon, one of the country’s biggest telecom companies, is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
The storm however has nothing to do with dropped calls or erratic internet coverage complaints that Cameroonians have voiced for years. Instead, it is about people.
At least 157 former employees are demanding more than 3 billion CFA francs in unpaid wages and severance benefits. These are not casual demands.
They come after years of service to the company, during which many of these workers say they were dismissed unfairly, without proper compensation.
For them, Orange Cameroon’s failure to pay what is owed is not just a contractual breach, but also a betrayal of human dignity.
The case exposes a deep contradiction. Orange Cameroon, which markets itself as a “people-focused” company providing essential communication services, is accused by its own ex-staff of abandoning the very people who built its network.
At the same time, customers across Cameroon have long accused the company of poor quality service: unstable internet, call drops, unexplained billing deductions, and a near-nonexistent customer care system.
For many observers, this combination exploited workers and dissatisfied customers shows a corporate culture that puts profit before people. It also raises serious questions about regulation.
Critics argue that Orange Cameroon has benefited from a weak regulatory environment in which customer protection is minimal and workers’ rights are poorly enforced.
Over the years, Cameroonians have consistently complained about Orange’s unreliable mobile money services, sudden tariff changes, and lack of transparency.
Yet the company has continued to expand its market share.
Now, with this 3 billion FCFA salary case, public patience is running thin. Some civil society voices are calling for boycotts, while others demand that the Ministry of Labour take immediate legal action to ensure that the workers are paid.
In a country where unemployment remains high, the Orange Cameroon scandal is more than just a labour dispute, it is a mirror of a larger system where corporations exploit both consumers and employees with little accountability.
