Management Of Covid-19: Civil Society Demands Greater Access To Information

“Enhancing Covid-19 Transparency and Accountability in Cameroon” in its interim report noted that the participation of civil society in Covid-19 consultation and response was low. “The challenges relating to transparency in the management of the funds and human resources mobilized in the context of the fight against the pandemic are the basis of staff strikes on the grounds of unpaid wages,” the report noted.

It said there were also questions about the efficiency of the procurement processes for the acquisition of medical equipment for the fight against the scourge and the criteria for distributing various donations. Moreover, the communication strategy is not very transparent on statistics and does not facilitate the dissemination of simple information to the public, the survey said. “The imbroglio on the number of Covid-19 deaths in Cameroon does not give credibility to official sources. The recovery of the awareness campaign for propaganda and cult of personalities does not facilitate the appropriation of the messages essential for behaviour change,” the report pointed out. 

The civil society coalition proposed that government develops and implements a food support and drinking water distribution plan for the most vulnerable households. This can be implemented in coordination with municipalities and social protection programmes in place. It called for the investigation of reported cases of corruption and for legal action to taken against suspects.

The grouping recommended an increase in healthcare workers’ salaries as well as improvements in their working conditions. Finally, it proposed strengthening the participation of the civil society in monitoring the Covid-19 response plan, raising awareness and implementing measures to alleviate the economic impact of the crisis on the most vulnerable groups.

Ndi Nancy Saiboh, Chief Executive Officer of Actions for Development and Empowerment, ADE, which undertook the study, described government’s recent decision to accelerate the audit of the management of Covid-19 funds as “an encouraging sign.” “We are anxiously waiting for the results of this audit because we noticed an absence of transparency in the management of the pandemic,” she said.

Nancy promised that her project will create a digital portal link for the public to know how much government has received to fight Covid-19. She encouraged government to include the civ...