Holding Multinational Companies Accountable in Cameroon
Jaff Napoleon Bamenjo, Coordinator, RELUFA, JH Cameroon
C&K diamond mining site and equipment in Mobilong, in the east region of Cameroon. Photos courtesy of RELUFA
Experience has shown that most poor, resource rich countries are not capturing the expected benefits from the exploitation of natural resources. Instead, multinational companies are working to maximize their profits from the exploitation of natural resources while host countries and local communities receive minimal benefits. Holding multinational companies accountable can ensure that the state receives the resources needed for local development in the communities where the company operates.
For over a decade, RELUFA has been actively involved in monitoring the operations of multinational companies in Cameroon and their impact on local communities. Since 2003, a plethora of mining and agro industry companies have been increasingly seeking land concessions for their projects in Cameroon. These projects are commonly located in rural areas and directly affect local communities who generally have limited capacity to hold multinational companies accountable for the negative impacts of their activities. Consequently, RELUFA is committed to conducting advocacy campaigns and engaging in meaningful dialogue with multinational companies to redress harm done to local communities and improve local social and economic development.
RELUFA has been closely monitoring the activities of Cameroon and Korea (C&K) Mining Inc., a Korean company established in Cameroon, which signed a mining convention with the government of Cameroon in 2010 and began exporting industrial diamonds in 2013. The mining project, deep within the forest in Mobilong in the east region of Cameroon, has resulted in large scale deforestation, the unemployment of artisanal miners, less than promised opportunities for employment and at low wages with no social security, indigenous populations having limited access to the forest and its products which serve as their primary source of livelihoods, and therefore, the eruption of local unrest, including the blockading of roads which lead to the concession areas.
Although government agencies are officially charged with the technical supervision of the project, independent monitoring by civil society organizations has proven very necessary in order to ensure that multinational companies like C&K Mining Inc. are held accountable for their operations and contributions (or lack thereof) to local social and economic development. Technical authorities of the state tasked with supervising multinational projects do not always place the needs of local communities at the forefront. Therefore, there is a need to build the capacities of local communities to understand the stakes and to take action.
Bulldozer deep in the forest at the C&K diamond mining site
Fiscal obligations and “local content” - “the use of local labor force together with capacity building (technology transfer) by the company and its partners as well as the use of local industries and services, subcontracting and finally, the funding of local development projects”[i] - are some of the components that analyzed to evaluate the level of compliance of multinational companies towards their engagements. Through RELUFA’s advocacy and capacity building work, areas of non-compliance by C&K Mining Inc. have been identified and documented and local populations have come to understand their roles in defending their rights and interests.
RELUFA has explained the mining code to affected communities, including sections of the mining code that prescribe local sub national mining revenues, a mining revenue sharing mechanism, which provides for a percentage of the mining royalties to be allocated to local communities impacted by mining. Unfortunately, this mechanism is not being systematically applied in Cameroon, most likely because the state has not completed the necessary regulations for the effective transfer of the mining royalties to local communities. RELUFA has embraced the subject of sub national mining royalty payments as a principal point in its campaign because direct revenue allocation to local communities is the main benefit stream they have from such projects which typically create very few jobs for local people. Effective payment of royalties to local communities can ensure that revenue to promote local development is available.
RELUFA is joining forces with communities impacted by the C&K mining project to request the effective payment of mining royalties to communities. In 2011, RELUFA was invited by the government to present the problem of sub national revenues during the Cameroon mining forum. As a result, plans are understood to be underway by the ministries of mines and of finance to regulate the effective transfer and use of sub national mining royalties. Meanwhile, local populations are being trained by RELUFA to set up local management committees while waiting for the impending mining royalties.
