Government insists no state gold reserves have vanished, but critics see a pattern of denial

During a July 15 press briefing in Yaoundé, the acting Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Fuh Calistus Gentry, firmly dismissed allegations of missing gold reserves from Cameroon’s state coffers.

The minister, joined by the Minister of Communication René Emmanuel Sadi, sought to calm public outrage triggered by revelations of a nearly 2 trillion FCFA shortfall in mining tax revenues.

While the government attributes the crisis to widespread underreporting by private mining operators—rather than outright embezzlement—its credibility is under scrutiny. The acting minister announced sweeping reforms, including enhanced oversight through a joint task force involving the National Mining Corporation (Sonamines), the General Tax Directorate (DGI), and Customs.

Underreported gold exports reveal systemic gaps

Official records tell only part of the story. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ITIE) reported a staggering discrepancy for 2023: Cameroon exported just 22 kg of gold, while United Arab Emirates customs documented 15 tonnes originating from Cameroonian soil.

Sonamines estimates that 44 tonnes of gold vanished from formal channels between 2021 and 2025, slipping through regulatory loopholes. The acting minister’s response includes deploying field teams to production sites and hiring an international expert to audit mining potential and set independent tax benchmarks.

Opposition leader fires back: ‘Ministers are performing magic tricks’

Me Désiré Sikati, a senior member of the opposition Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), dismissed the government’s narrative as a sleight of hand.

SOME CAMEROONIAN MINISTERS ARE TRUE MAGICIANS

The current Minister of Mines is Fuh Calistus Gentry, appointed to replace Gabriel Dodo Ndoke after his mysterious death under unresolved circumstances.

At yesterday’s press conference, Minister Fuh Calistus declared, ‘There is no disappearance of gold belonging to the State.’

Yet the scandal of gold trafficking in Cameroon dominates headlines both at home and abroad.

We must clarify: the minister did not deny that gold has disappeared. Instead, he implied that gold belonging to the Cameroonian state remains untouched.

This raises a critical question: if the gold belongs to the state—as explicitly stated in Cameroon’s mining code—then whose gold are we discussing? Could the minister be suggesting, against all legal clarity, that this gold belongs to private interests?

The harsh truth? These officials serve not the nation, but their own agendas.