Need For Better Organisation

For those who know Yaounde well, the Ministry of Trade is one ministry which does not have a lot of space … and come to think of it! It is here that the ministry regularly organizes sales of some essential items.

Many citizens are already criticizing this initiative, accusing the ministry of playing the role of business men while its sole role is regulatory. But one must understand that if the ministry got to this point, it was simply to effectively come to the rescue of numerous consumers who can no longer access essential or basic goods because of the selfishness of many business people who would rather hoard such so as to make maximum profits. 

In the past few days the ministry has embarked on the sale of cooking gas which has gone scarce in recent weeks, leaving many homes in despair. With the end-of-year feats in view, it is quite a disturbing situation and many households are understandably frightened by the sheer thought of having to get into the Christmas and New Year seasons without guarantees that they will be able to cook for their families. In principle, Cameroon produces enough gas to meet domestic demand and the presence of some ten companies operating in the gas sector leaves the impression that gas is easily accessible.

But that is false! The problem of scarcity of cooking gas is less about the available quantities and more about distribution. For example, national production carried out by the National Refinery Corporation, SONARA accounts for about 20 percent of national demand and the rest comes from imports, done under the authority of the CSPH, the Stabilisation Fund for Hydrocarbons. The paradox here is about the huge quantities available and the difficulty of accessing gas by ordinary citizens. The high number of distributors, rather than being a facilitating element, has turned out to be a problem.

The different gas distribution companies cannot be present at all sales points, leaving consumers to stray from one sales point to the other until they come across their distributor. There is also the problem of the interchangeability of bottles because companies do not accept...