The political bureau member of Cameroon’s Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC) of Maurice Kamto, sharply criticizes the press briefing held yesterday by the Acting Minister of Mines.

During a press conference organized in Yaoundé on July 15, 2026, the Acting Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (Minmidt), Fuh Calistus Gentry, formally denied any theft or disappearance of gold belonging directly to Cameroon’s state reserves.

This public statement, delivered alongside Communication Minister René Emmanuel Sadi, aims to defuse the controversy sparked by revelations of a fiscal shortfall of nearly 2 trillion FCFA.

The Cameroonian government clarifies that the current crisis does not stem from embezzlement of public funds but rather from massive fraud in declarations by private operators. Mining companies are underreporting the volumes of gold actually extracted.

The state is facing a drastic drop in revenue from the synthetic mining tax and export duties. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) report revealed a staggering discrepancy for 2023, with only 22 kg of gold declared for export by Cameroon compared to 15 tons recorded by customs authorities in the United Arab Emirates.

The National Mining Company (Sonamines) estimates that around 44 tons of gold have bypassed formal channels between 2021 and 2025. To combat this trafficking and clean up the gold sector, Pr Fuh Calistus Gentry announced an immediate series of reforms, including the deployment of a permanent team in the field comprising Sonamines, the General Tax Directorate (DGI), and the General Directorate of Customs (DGD).

This team will conduct direct on-site inspections at production sites. Additionally, the recruitment of an international expert is planned to assess the actual potential of deposits and impose a minimum taxation independent of operators’ declarations.

Me Sikati’s response:

CERTAIN CAMEROONIAN MINISTERS ARE TRUE MAGICIANS

The Cameroonian Minister of Mines is named FUH CALISTUS.

He was appointed to replace his predecessor Gabriel DODO NDOKE, who died under suspicious and still unexplained circumstances.

FUH CALISTUS declared during a press conference held yesterday that “there is no disappearance of gold belonging to the State.”

The gold trafficking scandal in Cameroon has become a major topic in both national and international media.

It should be noted that the minister does not claim there has been no disappearance of gold.

Instead, he implicitly states that the gold belonging to the State of Cameroon has not disappeared.

My question to him is this: Who then owns all the gold whose disappearance has been revealed?

I remind everyone that, according to Cameroon’s Mining Code, the subsoil and the gold it contains belong to the Cameroonian State.

Perhaps the minister believes, like some misguided minds, that despite the clear provisions of the Mining Code, the gold of Cameroon belongs to certain private individuals.

In reality, they are not here for Cameroon. They are here for their own interests.