Only two days after the CPDM parliamentary majority voted massively for the controversial constitutional amendment that delimits the number of presidential mandates in Cameroon, the National Assembly Bureau, April 12, took a decision granting MPs huge allowances.

Presided at by the House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, the meeting took place at the Ngom Jua Hall on the second floor of the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House. Following the upsurge of protests, the meeting instituted session allowance of FCFA 1.2 million to MPs who are not members of the Bureau. Given that there are three ordinary sessions of the National Assembly a year, the MPs are expected to bag FCFA 3.6 million from session allowances. Many MPs The Post talked to, saluted the decision as a move taken to bridge the yawning financial gap between members of the Bureau of the National Assembly and ordinary MPs.

The ordinary MPs and their Bureau counterparts were at daggers drawn when the authorities of the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House instituted huge car allowances to members of the Bureau last year. While ordinary MPs were given only a car loan of FCFA 8 million, members of the Bureau had larger sums.In this perspective, the House Speaker takes home a car allowance of FCFA 60 million, while the First Vice President has FCFA 50 million. The five Vice Presidents have FCFA 40 million car allowance each. The questors bag FCFA 40 million while the 12 secretaries have FCFA 35 million each. Thus, the Bureau of the National Assembly will be taking home close to a billion FCFA, precisely FCFA 8.90 million as car allowances every mandate of five years.

It was this situation that provoked the ordinary MPs to protest. Hitherto, the ordinary MP was given a car loan of FCFA 8 million each mandate.The Bureau meeting reversed this situation, stating that the FCFA 8 million will be a car allowance and no longer a car loan. Thus, FCFA 166.000 will no longer be deducted from the salaries of MPs every month. In view of the recent prescriptions by President Paul Biya, the Bureau meeting increased the salaries of the National Assembly workers by 15 percent.While defending the institution of such allowances, Hon. Joseph Banadzem, Bui Central constituency MP in the Northwest Province, said the measure was to enable MPs earn what their equivalents in government receive.

The Assembly Bureau also appointed Abdoulaye Daouda, (a magistrate) Second Assistant Secretary General of the House. He replaces Bah Oumarou Sanda who was recently appointed Cameroon's Ambassador to the Republic of Chad.

                                                                                                   Kini Nsom