Interim Report - Report No 344, March 2007

Case No 2476 (Cameroon) - Complaint date: 03-FEB-06 - Closed

Allegations: The complainant organization alleges that the authorities are interfering in their internal trade union affairs and are showing favouritism towards certain individuals and factions in the USLC, inter alia, with regard to the appointment of trade union representatives to national and international conferences without consulting the highest level organizations

440. The complaint is contained in a communication dated 3 February 2006. The complainant organization sent additional information in communications dated 24 April and 26 May 2006. The Government sent its observations in communications dated 9 May and 24 August 2006.

1. 441. Cameroon has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), and the Workers’ Representatives Convention, 1971 (No. 135).

A. The complainant’s allegations

1. 442. In a communication dated 3 February 2006 the Union of Free Trade Unions of Cameroon (USLC) alleges, through its Secretary-General, Mbom Mefe, that the USLC is the victim of interference by the Minister of Labour and Social Security.
2. 443. The complainant organization states that a dispute over the attribution of powers arose following the December 2002 election of Mbom Mefe as Secretary-General and that the union’s President, Flaubert Moussole, is accused of having falsified the organization’s statutes and installed puppet officials with the support of the Minister of Labour and Social Security. The deposed executive board took the case to court, and the complainant organization attaches a copy of the 25 July 2005 complaint lodged against the union’s President for falsification of documents, misappropriation of corporate assets, aggravated breach of trust and embezzlement of union funds, and a copy of the inscription on a court register of an inquiry into the legality of the extraordinary congress of 25, 26 and 27 August 2005 that resulted in the appointment of the new officers.
3. 444. The complainant organization states that the departments of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security deny having received any complaint regarding these matters commenting that the Ministry has a network of people whose job it is to remove any correspondence drawing attention to the financial dealings of the President of the union.
4. 445. The complainant organization alleges further that in Cameroon trade union representatives to national and international conferences are appointed without consulting the highest level organizations, and that this again constitutes interference by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security which, in total disregard of the rules for consulting the representative organizations, authorized the President of the union to take part in Cameroon’s delegation to the International Labour Conference in June 2005.
5. 446. In a communication dated 24 April 2006 the complainant organization sent the Committee a certified bailiff’s report that was drawn up on 12 April 2006 following the closure of the USLC’s union premises by the sub-prefect of the first district of Yaoundé accompanied by police officers. It alleges that the closure took place without notification of any judicial or administrative decision.
6. 447. In its communication dated 26 May 2006 the complainant organization challenges the circumstances under which the President of the union, Flaubert Moussole, was appointed, denounces his poor management of the union’s finances, which are currently being audited, and reiterates its allegations concerning the falsification of the union’s statutes.
7. 448. The complainant organization requests the Committee to declare the Government responsible for interference in its trade union activities and to urge it to take the necessary steps to ensure that the organization has once again the use of its premises.
8. B. The Government’s reply
9. 449. In its communication dated 9 May 2006 the Government states its belief that the allegations in the present case reflect an environment that is characterized by disputes over the union’s leadership, both at the level of the union and at that of the grass-roots organizations. According to the Government, the cause of the disputes is always the same – the end of the union officials’ mandate, because those holding office are afraid of being replaced and therefore refuse to organize union congresses or manage the union’s dues and financial assistance.
10. 450. In the present case, the Government states that, at an extraordinary USLC congress that was held in Yaoundé on 28 and 29 March 2002, Flaubert Moussole was elected President of the union and Mbom Mefe was elected to the post of secretary for vocational education and workers’ education, for a five-year term.
11. 451. According to the Government, Mr Mefe has from the very start suspected Mr Moussole of having tricked the clerk and obtained the USLC’s registration certificate by fraudulent means, illegally using a falsified version of the union’s statutes. The Government states that, while Mr Moussole was in Geneva for the 2005 session of the International Labour Conference, he was deposed by Mr Mefe, who thus combined the functions of both President and Secretary-General of the union.
12. 452. On his return from the Conference, Mr Moussole convened an extraordinary congress on 25, 26 and 27 August 2005, with the election of the members of the union’s executive board as the sole item on the agenda. The outcome of the congress, in which the Ministry of Labour and Social Security was present as an observer, Flaubert Moussole was re-elected President of the union and André Jules Mousseni was elected Secretary-General in the place of Mbom Mefe, for a period of five years.
13. 453. The Government considers that Mr Mefe refuses to recognize the officers who were elected at the congress. The Government, for its part, merely takes note of the outcome of the poll.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 454. The Committee notes that the present case concerns the alleged interference of the public authorities in trade union activities to the advantage of certain individuals and factions within the USLC, including the appointment of union representatives to national and international conferences without consulting the highest union organizations.
2. 455. With regard to the disputes within the USLC, the Committee recalls that it is not competent to make recommendations on internal dissensions within a trade union organization, so long as the government does not intervene in a manner which might affect the exercise of trade union rights and the normal functioning of an organization, and that judicial intervention would permit a clarification of the situation from the legal point of view for the purpose of settling the question of the leadership and representation of the organization concerned [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth edition, 2006, paras 1114 and 1116].
3. 456. In this case the Committee notes that Mbom Mefe challenges the legitimacy of the new executive board, which he claims was appointed at an extraordinary congress that had been convened in violation of the organization’s statutes and with the support of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The Government, on the other hand, considers that the congress was held as a result of an attempt by the organization’s Secretary-General, Mr Mefe, to depose the President of the union and that Mr Mefe’s replacement at the head of the organization had been fairly and legally undertaken.
4. 457. The Committee notes that no judicial decision has yet been handed down as to the legality of the extraordinary congress of 25, 26 and 27 August 2005, Mr Mefe’s removal from office and the truth or otherwise of the accusations of misappropriation of funds levelled against the President of the union. The Committee expects that the legal proceeding under way since 2005 will soon be completed and requests the Government to send it a copy of any judgement that is handed down. Moreover, given the conflicting information contained in the communications from the complainant organization and from the Government, the Committee invites the Government to accept a direct contacts mission to clarify the matter.
5. 458. With regard to the alleged closure of the trade union premises, the Committee regrets that the Government has not sent its observations on the matter and considers, if the allegations are found to be true, that they constitute serious interference in trade union activities by the authorities. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the resolution concerning trade union rights and their relation to civil liberties, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 54th Session (1970), which states that the right to protection of the property of trade union organizations is essential for the normal exercise of trade union rights [see Digest, op. cit., para. 189]. The Committee calls on the Government to send its observations on the matter as soon as possible and requests it to inform it of the specific motives for the public authorities’ intervention and whether a court warrant was issued for the purpose.
6. 459. With regard to the alleged appointment of workers’ representatives to the International Labour Conference, the Committee again regrets that the Government has not sent its observations on the matter. Recalling that representation at the Conference is a matter for the Conference Credentials Committee to decide, the Committee reaffirms the special importance it attaches to the right of the representatives of both workers’ and employers’ organizations to attend and participate in ILO meetings [see Digest, op. cit., para. 766].

The Committee's recommendations

1. 460. In the light of its foregoing interim conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) With regard to the legality of the extraordinary congress of 25, 26 and 27 August 2005 and the truth or otherwise of the accusations of misappropriation of funds levelled against the President of the union, the Committee expects that the legal proceeding under way since 2005 will soon be completed and requests the Government to send it a copy of any judgement that is handed down. Given the conflicting information contained in the communications from the complainant organization and from the Government, the Committee invites the Government to accept a direct contacts mission to clarify the matter.
   • (b) The Committee calls on the Government to send its observations on the alleged closure of the USLC’s trade union premises as soon as possible. The Committee requests the Government to inform it of the specific motives for the public authorities’ intervention and whether a court warrant was issued for the purpose.