On May 29, the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, asked the Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachie, to instruct the carrying out of testing campaigns- on an exceptional basis- within the customs administration.

The finance minister requested systematic screening at the headquarters of the General Directorate of Customs (DGD) in Yaoundé and in the Littoral I and II Customs sectors in Douala, as well as disinfection of the buildings housing them, and the homes of staff who tested positive for Covid-19.

“Recently, worrying outbreaks of contamination have been reported at the headquarters of the General Directorate of Customs in Yaoundé and the two sectors of the Coastal Customs,” he said. According to him, the disruption in the customs administration due to the pandemic could aggravate the multifaceted imbalances already noted at the economic, financial, and budgetary levels. The customs administration contributed CFA971.7 billion to the 2019 State budget, compared to CFA925 billion in FY 2018.

Dominique Mbassi