By Nformi Sonde Kinsai
The Minister of Finance, MINFI, Louis Paul Motazé, and that of Public Service and Administrative Reform, MINFOPRA, Joseph Lé, have announced the payment of accumulated career advancement arrears worth FCFA 57 billion owed to state employees.
In a joint press release of last July 22, the ministers noted that state workers who benefitted from automatic advancements in January 2025, thanks to the introduction of the Personnel and Payroll Management Application Software, AIGLES, will see the settlement of their salary debt inherent to all arrears related to updates prior to when the tool went operational. The first set of employees concerned started receiving the arrears in the July 2025 payout.
“This operation specifically concerns the total arrears resulting from advancement in increment and class, amounting to FCFA 57 billion, that is, FCFA 53.2 billion for arrears below FCFA 4.5 million to be paid to 177,933state employees, and FCFA 3.8 billion for amounts above FCFA 4.5 million to be paid to 450 people. Arrears of less than FCFA 4.5 million are to be paid entirely between July and January 2026, to the tune of FCFA 8 billion per month, in accordance with the settlement plan attached to the press release,” Motazé and Lé noted.
They explained further that the payment of arrears above FCFA 4.5 million will be done concurrently with the previous ones, subject to the submission by each of the concerned at room 235; Block A of MINFI of a file comprising a stamped application addressed to the Minister; the recruitment instrument; the certificate of first assumption of duty; an attestation of effective presence; and, where applicable, the instrument of last change of grade.
They inform the public that the list of those concerned could be consulted on the websites of MINFI at www.minfi.gov.cm, MINFOPRA at www.minfopra.gov.cm, and the Directorate General of the Budget at www.dgd.cm.
“Furthermore, for state workers who benefit from updates, including advancement in grade, the calculation of arrears is currently being finalised. The same applies for arrears of 175 staff serving in diplomatic missions or related institutions. They will be paid at the same time as the previous ones, from September 2025, under the same conditions described above,” the ministers assured.
They maintained that for the 2,318 state employees who have been seconded or placed on reserve previously, the calculation of arrears will be subjected to a more in-depth analysis, and payment will begin after the month of January 2026.
Motazé and Lé reiterated that the process of clearing arrears stemming from updates of the careers of educational staff as instructed by the Head of State, is now in the phase of management of a few litigation cases. They reassured the public in general and state workers in particular of government’s determination to continue clearing the salary debt initiated a few years ago so as to reduce it to its simplest form by the end of the 2025 financial year.
Following the payment plan, and for those to receive below FCFA 4.5 million, a net amount of FCFA 6 474 176 629 was paid to some 12,135 state employees during the July 2025 payout. For August 2025, FCFA 6 387 832 620 will be paid to 14,111 employees; FCFA 6 412 547 523 to 21,593 workers in September; FCFA 6 428 180 353 to 30,287 in October; FCFA 6 543 043 457 to 32,288 in November; FCFA 6 503 278 587 to 35,679 in December; and FCFA 4 258 263 204 to 31,840 employees in January 2026.
For those whose amounts are more than or equal to FCFA 4.5 million, the government paid a net amount of FCFA 2 057 552 660 to 291 workers in the July 2025 payout. It is projected to pay FCFA 594 435 733 to 88 workers in August; FCFA 141 707 200 to 24 in September; FCFA 111 949 195 to 18 in October; FCFA 89 836 888 to 17 in November; FCFA 36 706 293 to five in December; and FCFA 39 568 172 to seven employees in January 2026.