Yaounde: Trade Minister Seals Shops For Price Hikes

The Guardian Post Newspaper reports that the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana has sealed some shops across several markets in Yaoundé.

The Minister’s tour of the markets comes weeks following reports of several commodity price hikes by traders in some markets in Yaoundé.

However, in the Minister’s tour, he is said to have met with rather steady price tags across the shelves contrary to reports of price hikes.

At the Mvog-bi market nevertheless, while the Minister made a stop at a cold store, he was confronted by some buyers who told the Minister that all he was seeing from the traders was being staged because of his presence.

With the prices at the cold store being standard, the customer told the Minister that traders often manipulate the weighing machines to cheat customers.

The customer told the Minister, “most of them are faulty and have been manipulated. Imagine two fishes weighing a kilogram. We at times don’t get the quantity of what we pay for.”

At another shop, he was also confronted by different sets of customers who told him the standard prices he saw were mere distractions.

“Mr. Minister all that you are seeing here is drama. For instance, the Mayor Vegetable Oil sold at 1200 FCFA is indeed sold at 1500 FCFA… If you come here tomorrow, the story will be different.” A trader told Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana.

Without ignoring these complaints, the Minister gave firm instructions for officials to conduct regular price control checks across the city.

Speaking to the press, later on, the Minister was optimistic and said he observed with great delight that normal price tags were being respected.

The Minister said “we came to see the realities in the market. What I can say is that the information published by social media networks is not true.”