Public Outcry Over Minister’s FCFA 100 Million Car Amid Poor Road Conditions

There has been widespread public outcry and accusations of hypocrisy directed at Minister Lyonga. This comes after the Minister of Secondary Education, Pauline Nalova Lyonga, issued a tender to procure a service car worth FCFA 100 million as part of the 2024 financial year’s programme budget execution.

This decision comes just a month after Minister Nalova publicly criticized the poor state of roads in the city of Buea. During her visits to Fako in March for an open-door day and the CPDM anniversary, she expressed strong dissatisfaction with the road conditions. “The roads in Buea are something else. You can’t talk about it. Those roads are not roads for human beings. That is not how Buea was. Why do we want Buea to be like that? You know, if a school is a school, let the school grow in a humane place—in a place where you have human beings,” she stated during the launch of the Open Business Days for technical and vocational schools in Buea on March 14.

On March 24, during the 39th anniversary of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement in Limbe, she reassured party supporters that the dilapidated roads in the division would be rehabilitated. However, no road rehabilitation has taken place, and the Minister has proceeded to secure a car that can navigate the poor road conditions more comfortably.

The tender announcement has sparked criticism on social media, with many questioning the extravagant spending of government officials. This controversy follows another recent incident where the Director General of the SCDP, Véronique Manzoua Moampea Mbio, faced backlash after a tender document revealed her intent to purchase a high-end company car for FCFA 119 million (approximately $250,000).

Critics argue that such lavish expenditures by government officials come at the expense of taxpayers, who continue to suffer from inadequate infrastructure, including poor road conditions.

Mimi Mefo Info – Public outcry