Petrol and petroleum products the
world over have led to wars and revolutions. The gulf war and other wars and
revolutions in the Arab world have been because of the quest by some western
powers to control oil fields in the rich petrol producing countries and then
determine world prices of such petrol. Be it in crude form, that is brute
petrol or in its refined form, that is fuel for immediate consumption, its
price determines the prices of other commodities. This is why the least
augmentation of the price of fuel has led to strikes in most countries as it
affects the cost of living and the standard of living of the population. It is
still fresh in the memories of alert citizens the February 2008 riots in Cameroon
that nearly paralyzed the entire nation. The February 2008 riots were because
of an increase in fuel prices that provoked a negative rippling effect in the
prices of other commodities. Next door Nigeria
and far off Tunisia went
through similar strikes because of the increase in fuel prices leading to the
collapse of the regime in Tunisia.
Despite the February 2008 strikes, Cameroon apparently appears to have
come out of the crises without learning any lessons.
Fuel price hikes are imminent in Cameroon,
as the government has embarked on an information campaign mission to prepare
public opinion to swallow the bitter pill of fuel price hikes. This is so
because it is legendary in Cameroon that when the government intends to take
any unpopular move or a decision that might attract some anger and consequent
rioting by the population, people’s minds are prepared far in advanced through
specialized information slots on the public media. This is usually called
testing the water. When the minds of the public is sufficiently prepared, then
the government slides in the unpopular move cushioning it with apparent
accompanying measures that are nothing short of blindfold of the unsuspecting
public. Since last week government has surreptitiously employed the services of
CRTV and Cameroon Tribune to prepare public opinion on an imminent fuel price
increase. It is even being circulated in high government circles that the move
is even belated for it was earmarked to begin in December when SONARA publicly
announced that it was going to temporarily shut down its installations for
maintenance. Government intended at that moment to use that as an excuse to
increase fuel prices, but the prevailing political circumstances did not favour
the move as President Paul Biya who won the Presidential elections whose
results were being contested by the opposition did not want to take chances.
After consolidating national and internationally the victory of the October
2011 Presidential elections, government it is alleged intends to gradually push
through fuel price increases and wants first and foremost to prepare public
opinion through tele-guided information dissemination on the public media
CRTV And Cameroon Tribune Fire Warning Shots.
On July 17, 2012 the Director of
Information at CRTV Television, Charles Ndongo invited panelists to the
programme, “Par ici le débat” to discuss on the sustainability of the subvention
of petroleum products by the state since four years and whether the state
should continue to subsidize the prices of fuel at the filling stations. During
the programme a well selected pro-government panelists went beyond human
comprehension to explain why government should desist from continuously
subsidizing fuel prices for it was a waste of financial resources and
unsustainable. Charles Ndongo’s debate came closely on the heels of the Sunday
evening programme, “Scènes de presse” where the issue was also discussed at
length in a bid to prepare people’s mind on the imminent bomb shell. Cameroon
Tribune dedicated full pages in two editions just to push through governments
ideas. The services of Grande Reporteurs like Martin Badjang Ba Nken were solicited
as he wrote a well researched article to show that government was wasting money
in subsidizing fuel prices. He ended his article by appealing to his readers to
support the lofty idea of government to cut subsidies on fuel prices, for the
projected FCFA 400 billion that was supposed to be used for fuel subvention in
2012 could be used to realize other major projects like the Lom Pangar Dam and
the building of health infrastructures.
Government Missions Abroad
Officials of the Ministry of
Finance led by Jean Tchoffo, Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance who
doubles as the President of the Technical Committee for the follow-up of
Economic programmes and Ibrahim Talba Malla, Director General of the
Hydrocarbon Price Stabilization Funds, CSPH travelled to Dakar Senegal some
months back to learn from the Senegalese experience in handling fuel prices.
After the visit, a reflection workshop was organized on June 14-15, 2012
between officials of the Ministry of Finance and Transport to brainstorm on ways
of attenuating the negative effects of an eventual withdrawal of subventions on
petroleum products. During the workshop Boniface Ze, Technical Director of CSPH
gave an exposé that provoked serious debate amongst participants. From his
talk, it emerged that government wants to henceforth embark on what he called
“Targeted Subvention” which might be structural, fiscal, and administrative or
on custom duties. It emerged during the meeting that government intends to
embark on special missions abroad to countries that do not subsidize petroleum
products to learn from their experiences and then implant those experiences in Cameroon.
Trade Unions Threaten Strikes
Prior to this vast information
campaign to prepare public opinion, government had struggled to woo trade
unions to buy the idea of a price increase. On May 18, 2012 government invited
road transport Trade Unions and leader’s of the Civil Society to a restitution
seminar in Djeuga Palace Hotel in Yaounde. It was to evaluate a World Bank
studies that demonstrated that there was some gross injustices in the
subvention by government of fuel prices at the filling stations, because the
subsidies essentially benefited the rich and not the poor. The leaders of the
Civil Society and Road Transport Syndicates sensed that it was a camouflaged
subterfuge to increase fuel prices at the filling stations.
Meanwhile, trade union leaders
that attended the meeting insisted amongst other measures to be taken by
government the eradication of TVA for transporters, the putting in place of a
unique counter for the payment of all transport documents, and the provision of
comfortable secured resting places along the highways for drivers. But other
trade leaders who were not part of the meeting with government officials are
threatening strike actions if government dare increases fuel prices. They
argued that the meeting was only for interurban transporters and truck drivers.
They added that in the transport sector, the demands and problems are not the
same and one trade union cannot take a binding decision for all other trade
unions. They requested that the same kind of reflection should be embarked upon
with taxi drivers and bendskin riders. While the issue is raising a lot of dust
in the transport sector, it is alleged that the government envisages other
missions abroad to further prepare government officials with methods of
instituting price increases without causing the wrath of the population.
Taxes Raise Prices At Filling
Stations
Many analysts are of the opinion
that government has a large margin to solve the problem of fuel hikes at
filling stations without necessary increasing prices by withdrawing
subventions. They argue that the prices practiced at fuel filling stations are
high because of the various taxes government has imposed on petroleum products.
For instance it is demonstrated that between the refinery SONARA and the
various fuel filling stations nationwide there are numerous taxes that exist.
According to prices for March 2011 homologated by CSPH, a litre of super inside
SONARA cost FCFA 335, 27, Kerosene FCFA 380, 62 and gasoil FCFA 372, 08.
Paradoxically, immediately these same products cross the gate of SONARA they
undergo through numerous tax impositions that increases the prices. There are
22 tax impositions on petroleum products that leave SONARA for the final
consumer. FCFA 235,95 tax is imposed on a litre of super and this brings the
retail price at the filing stations to FCFA 569. FCFA 350 for kerosene and FCFA
520 for gasoil. Trade Union leaders requested the suppression of some of these
taxes as the panacea to avoiding price increases at the filling stations.
Wrong Timing
Government’s decision to increase
fuel prices is ill-timed. It is alleged that the government move will go
operational in August, a month most parents are battling out with the payment
of school fees and the procurement of school needs for their children.
Increasing fuel prices at this moment will affect the prices of everything and
might provoke anger. Equally the social climate in Cameroon now characterized by
arrests, trails and sentencing of some regime bigwigs do not augur well and any
misunderstanding can degenerate to something else. The consequences of the
February 2008 strikes should not be forgotten, especially as some people were arrested
and jailed.
It is worthy to recall that
government decided to subsidize petroleum products in 1986 to avoid price hikes
and high cost of living. FCFA 1089 billion is estimated to have been consumed
as subvention between 2008 and 2012. In 2011 government spent FCFA 323 billion
and projections put it at FCFA 400 billion in 2012. Studies by the National
Institute of Statistics on households, dubbed ECAM stated that irrespective of
the petroleum product consumed, beneficiaries were those of high income and not
those with low income. This is what government is using to back the move to
withdraw subsidies from petroleum products, yet the pill seems to bitter for
the masses to swallow.
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