Business in Cameroon | When Cameroonian police and military retirees received their July 2024 pensions, they noticed a reduction in their usual payments. This change was due to the suspension of family allowances linked to the number of children they claimed, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance on August 22, 2024. The ministry explained that this “precautionary measure” was implemented as part of a joint task force involving the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defense, and the National Security Delegation. The decision followed an audit revealing widespread fraud in these payments.
The audit was conducted to “clean up” the state payroll after it was observed that the family allowances for retired military and police personnel, based on the number of children over 16 (or 20 for police), had rapidly increased. This surge in allowances from 2010 to 2021 strained the sustainability of the pension system. The audit, initiated in 2022, uncovered approximately 12,846 fraudulent birth certificates and at least one false claim among 4,300 retirees (including 418 from the police and 3,842 from the military), along with 43 widows receiving fraudulent survivor benefits.
Internal sources at the Ministry of Finance estimate that these fraudulent practices, designed to inflate family allowances beyond what was legally due, cost the public treasury about CFA3.1 billion annually, totaling roughly CFA35 billion over the period covered by the audit.
To prevent further losses, the government suspended these payments starting in July 2024. A dispute resolution phase was immediately opened to allow affected retirees to contest the suspension. The Finance Ministry has urged all impacted pensioners to take advantage of this phase, which will continue until the end of October 2024, to provide documentation that justifies the payment of their child allowances.
As of now, a reception desk has been set up at the Ministry of Finance to handle claims and review valid documents. Out of 110 claims submitted, 52 have been resolved, resulting in the restoration of allowances in the August 2024 payment, including back pay for July. The remaining claims are still under review.
There has been no official word on the consequences for those found guilty of fraud. While some speculate that the government may issue repayment orders to recover the misappropriated funds through pension deductions, others suggest that the state might “turn a blind eye” to the issue.