By Aloysius AGENDIA
During my Economics lessons in school, our teacher told us that privatization was a key element in developing the economy of any country. According to him, privatization does not only allow for competition- hence better services, it also pumps in more money into the government coffers. 
This is academically true and it is good if it is well implemented.
However, all that is theory as privatization nowadays has nothing to do with improving services. It is just the control of power and profits. The privatization especially that preached by the World Bank/IMF is rooted in allowing a totally free market in all sectors with little or no government control. It is just like the economic partnership agreements APE signed by many African countries with some developed nations. Privatization in Cameroon and most of Africa has had no impact in quality services.
The Cameroon
government on April 12 released the result of the 2005 national population and
housing census that puts the number of people in Cameroon at 19.4 million as of
January 2010. According to the statistics, 50.5% of the population are women. Equally, 52% of the population live in urban areas. Though the total estimate
of the population may not be of much worry to average Cameroonians, the various
regional projections smack of government’s total dishonesty, bad intent,
incompetence and diabolic geo-strategic calculations, pending imminent changes
in the National Assembly as well as the distribution of senatorial seats. Look
at the following table and read the follow-up analysis
The recent outing of the Minister of Economy and Finance,
Esimi Menye, to joyfully announced and with much aplomb that 15000 fake civil
servants have been caught in the civil service, was at its best, a badly
calculated move to cajole those who are not versed with Cameroon mishandling
and juxtaposition of statistics. In
fact, the announcement could trigger elite-driven motions of support from party
militants, in government efforts at cleaning the civil service of crooks.
It shows that Cameroon and Africa is not only a place for raw material but equally,
a place where finished goods can be made, a myth that has been propagated by
colonial partners for the past 5 decades.
