Cameroon has dismissed nearly 6,000 public workers as part of an ongoing effort to clean up its bloated payroll, Public Service Minister Joseph announced.
The operation known as the Physical Count of State Personnel (COPPE) has so far examined more than 8,000 disciplinary cases. Of these, 5,936 workers have been struck off the state payroll, including 2,965 civil servants and 2,971 contract employees, the minister said.
The crackdown targets so-called “ghost workers” who continue to collect salaries despite abandoning their posts, a problem the government says is straining public finances and crowding out new recruitment.
Launched in 2018, COPPE aims to verify the physical presence of state employees and ensure the accuracy of payroll records. The latest dismissals follow an earlier batch of 232 civil servants fired in March, with thousands more files still under review.
Officials say the challenge now will be to ensure the removals translate into real savings and to modernise attendance monitoring, while tightening hiring to better match government needs.
