National carrier grounded, top officials dismissed

The managing director of Cameroon's national airline, Cameroon Airlines which is commonly known as Cam Air, was sacked on Monday following the unexplained cancellation of all flights which left thousands of passengers stranded in cities across West Africa. The removal of Yves Michel Fotso, and the company's president Etienne Ntsama, was announced in a communiqué from the Minister of Transport, John Begheni Ndeh, on Monday night. They have been replaced by two former cabinet ministers, Thomas Dakayi Kamga and Edouard Akame Mfoumou, the minister told a news conference in the capital, Yaounde. Cam Air cancelled all internal and international flights without warning on Saturday. Thousands of passengers were stranded in airports across Cameroon as well as other West African cities served by Cam Air including N'djamena, Brazzaville and Kinshasa. The company offered no explanation for the cessation of services, no compensation to stranded passengers and no advice as to when the flights might recommence. For years Cameroon Airlines has suffered from repeated economic crises which have grounded its fleet on a number of occasions. The latest collapse is thought to have been caused by a lack of funds to pay insurance premiums and staff salaries. A Cameroon Airlines Boeing 767 is reported to be grounded at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport where its insurance cover expired at midnight October 31 while the Yugoslavian crew of two DC-9s which serve Cam Air's internal links and short-haul flights to neighbouring African capitals, went on strike after their salaries were not paid. This latest stoppage will come as no surprise to the Cameroonian passengers who are so used to their national carrier's unpredictable service that they have dubbed it "air peut-etre", or "air perhaps". In June this year, a cash flow crisis again made the national carrier fail to pay the lease on its planes and terminate services. Tuesday’s edition of the independent daily, Les Mutations, reported an 'open secret' that the government had not paid Cam Air despite commandeering its planes to transport the President on frequent long-haul flights. The airline nearly collapsed in 2000 with reported debts of around 60 billion CFA (US $109 million). The government subsequently appointed Yves Michel Fotso, who cut staff by a third and, when financial problems continued, brought in extra funding from his father's own bank, the Cameroon Banking Corporation. This latest crisis has prompted the government to again take matters into their own hands and it is believed that the sacking of Fotso and the appointment of two former ministers was approved by the presidency. An analyst said it was a matter of personal pride and political credibility for Paul Biya to keep the national carrier in the air particularly as he approaches the presidential election next year. Fotso’s replacement, Thomas Dakayi Kamga, is a former minister of transport who has headed other national institutions such as Sonel, the electricity company, and has spent over ten years in a leading role in the UDEAC (Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa) and then CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa ). Significantly, perhaps, Dakayi Kamga is said to be a leading figure in the project to get a West African airline, known as Air CEMAC, off the ground. His brother-in-law is in charge of the Douala Port Authority and another relative is special advisor to the secretary general of Cameroon's ruling political party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM). The new President of Cam Air's steering committee, Edouard Akame Mfoumou, a former minister of finance, was living in his village near Sangmelima in the South province since his retirement from government in 2001. A member of the politically dominant Boulou tribe, his appointment may provoke allegations of nepotism, an analyst said. The management reshuffle has brought little relief to the thousands of passengers who are still struggling to make travel arrangements. Frustrated travelers queued up in Cam Air's Douala office early on Tuesday morning brandishing their tickets and demanding information which was not forthcoming. "Take our phone number and call each day" was the advice to one woman who was due to fly to Johannesburg on Friday.