Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Contracts is stepping up its fight against the abandonment of construction sites by service providers. A 21-day ultimatum has been given to 216 companies to resume abandoned work or justify their cessation, under penalty of suspension.
The Ministry Delegate to the Presidency in charge of Public Procurement (Minmap), headed by Ibrahim Talba Malla, recently published a list of 216 companies at risk of having their contracts terminated for abandoning construction sites in the 2023, 2022 and 2021 financial years. This initiative aims to redress a sector often marred by shortcomings and inadequate practices. Minmap clearly indicated that these companies have 21 days to restart or finalize the work or to provide supporting documents explaining their inactivity.
Among the abandoned projects is the construction of a reinforced concrete bridge over the Mayo Tagouri, linking the Tignère-Wogomdou communal road, in the Adamaoua region, as well as the construction of a bus station complex in the city of Akonolinga, in the Centre region. These projects, essential for the development of local infrastructure, demonstrate the importance of the responsiveness of service providers to avoid serious consequences for the communities concerned.
According to the Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ARMP), the abandonment of construction sites often results from corruption and biased awarding of contracts. “The public procurement sector, in Cameroon as in the world, is exposed to corrupt practices. This exposure attracts inexperienced adventurers, which leads to poor execution of projects and abandoned construction sites,” underlines the ARMP. This analysis highlights the importance of strengthening the selection criteria for successful companies to ensure the efficiency of the works.
This is not the first time that Minmap has taken an initiative to combat construction site abandonment. In 2017, 334 companies had already been warned and, in 2019, they were banned from bidding for public contracts for a period of two years. In 2016, 122 defaulting companies were suspended, with repercussions on their future participation in public contracts.
This series of measures aimed to clean up the public procurement sector by ensuring that service providers meet quality and delivery time requirements. The efforts have begun to bear fruit: between 2012 and 2017, the Cameroonian Public Treasury recorded substantial savings, in the order of 500 billion CFA francs, thanks to improved contract management and execution. In addition, since 2015, more than 90% of public contracts have been executed and received in the country’s ten regions, an encouraging signal for the continuation of the reform.
The suspension of 216 companies is a new episode in the fight against dysfunctions in the public procurement sector in Cameroon. By promoting transparency and efficiency, the government hopes to eradicate bad practices and ensure complete and efficient execution of projects. For now, the ultimatum given leaves doubts about the reaction of the companies concerned and the fate of the projects in question.
