(Business in Cameroon) - In reply to the letter sent on August 20, 2019, by Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe, president of Camair-Co’s administrative board to the managing director, the said director, Louis Georges Njipendi Kouotu, recently sent a letter which despite being classified as “highly confidential” was nevertheless leaked on social media.   

In the letter, the managing director was explaining his choice to maintain the appointment of executives within Camair-Co despite the president of the administrative board’s order to undo them. “Those decisions (…) were taken in strict compliance with (…) enforceable rules and the company’s by-laws (...),” the managing director wrote.

For instance, he explained, strategic positions like sales management, chief operations officer, heads of audit among others were vacant despite their critical importance in the carrier’s management and for its newly set goals. Therefore, he indicated, these appointments were required not only for the day to day management but also for the new dynamics required by the implementation of the mid-term stabilisation strategy approved by the administrative board on June 25, 2019.

Performances

According to the managing director, Camair-Co has made significant progress since he assumed office. He pointed out, for instance, the company’s turnover that rose from XAF341 million in May 2019 to XAF937 million by July 2019. In addition, during his term, the carrier has densified its national network, reopened the Libreville, Bangui, and Cotonou lines. Camair-Co has also launched the trans-Saharan line, which attracted more than 2,000 passengers by its fifteenth operation day. Two pilots have also been trained for the Bombardier Q400 plane to optimize its exploitation.

Njipendi Kouotu indicated that the August 19 appointments were aimed at remobilizing the team, some of whom were demotivated with the occurrence of notable insubordinations due to the lack of officially appointed heads at some departments. The appointments are also an answer to one of the unionists’ main demands in May when they issued a strike notice.

For the time being, Ernest Massene Ngalle Bibehe, president of the carrier's administrative board and minister of transport is still waiting for an internal audit of the company’s infrastructures, financial, material and human resources.

Sylvain Andzongo