Cameroon’s government has not established any fraud in its family allowance system despite identifying irregularities in some birth certificates submitted by civil servants. The authentication phase, which will determine whether the issues stem from administrative errors or false declarations, has not yet begun, the Directorate General of Budget said during a briefing in Yaoundé on July 24, 2026.

“We cannot say today that we have this or that result. We have indications that raise questions and require further analysis,” the Director General of Budget said. “We must not jump to conclusions. We need to be certain before making any statement.” The cautious approach comes as the first phase of the family allowance audit, conducted from June 25 to July 15, registered only 61,856 beneficiaries out of the 180,806 active civil servants expected to take part. That represents a 34.2% participation rate, leaving 118,950 beneficiaries to register during the second and final phase, scheduled from July 25 to August 15.

Authorities collected a total of 301,083 birth certificates, covering 31.4% of the children included in the audit.

Registration Pace Must Nearly Double

To complete the operation on schedule, registration teams will need to process an average of about 5,407 civil servants per calendar day during the second phase. That is 83.6% higher than the daily average of 2,946 beneficiaries recorded during the first phase.

The administration has shown it can temporarily exceed that pace. On July 14 alone, 7,723 civil servants were registered. Nearly 30% of all applications were also submitted during the final three days of the first phase. That late surge increases the risk of heavier workloads, longer queues, and processing errors. The Directorate General of Budget has therefore urged eligible civil servants not to wait until the final days to register at participating banks or regional treasury offices.

“Our objective is to reach 100%. That is why we are calling on those who have not yet registered to do so,” the official said. Additional registration sites have been opened at some government offices in Yaoundé to improve access.

Central Region Lags Behind

Participation has been particularly weak in the Centre region. According to figures presented during the briefing, teams deployed there achieved an average completion rate of about 15.9%, compared with 59.3% outside the region.

However, those figures appear to represent average performance per registration team or site. Without information on the reference populations used, they cannot be directly compared with the number of civil servants registered elsewhere in the country.

The Centre region’s slower progress is particularly significant because it includes Yaoundé and accounts for a large share of central government institutions and civil servants. The Ministry of Finance plans more targeted communication through public administrations, banks, media outlets, and digital platforms.

Authorities described the second phase as the final opportunity for beneficiaries who missed the first round to regularize their situation. The August 15, 2026 deadline remains unchanged.

Irregularities Still Require Verification

Initial reviews identified birth certificates missing the mother’s name, serial numbers, or issuance dates. Other documents reportedly contain incomplete information or inconsistencies related to the civil registry offices that issued them. The Directorate General of Budget stressed that these formal irregularities remain warning signs rather than proof of fraud. A document with missing information or clerical errors cannot be considered fraudulent until it has been verified against the records of the relevant civil registry office.

“You may initially consider a document irregular, but once it is authenticated, you may find that it is valid,” the Director General of Budget said. The next phase will therefore involve verifying birth certificates with civil registry offices and cross-checking the information collected.

After August 15, family allowances linked to children who have not been registered will be removed from the government payroll pending clarification of their status. If fraud, false declarations, or improper payments are formally established, the government plans to recover the funds, although the recovery process has not yet been detailed.

“Our objective is not to punish civil servants acting in good faith, but to uphold the law, protect legitimate rights, and end unjustified payments,” the official said. The audit applies only to active civil servants and excludes pensioners.

Family Allowance Budget Has Grown Sharply

The audit follows a rapid increase in the number of children registered in the government payroll system. According to the Ministry of Finance, the number rose from 594,728 in June 2024 to 923,307 in March 2026, an increase of 55.3% over 21 months.

During the same period, the budget allocated to family allowances increased from CFA21 billion to CFA38 billion in less than five years, a rise of about 81%. However, the CFA38 billion figure represents the total budget allocation, not savings already identified through the audit. The government said it is still unable to estimate losses linked to possible improper payments.

“We cannot say at this stage that we are losing this amount or that amount. We are carrying out the operation, and we will provide the figures once it is completed,” the Director General of Budget said.

The second phase of the audit will therefore serve two purposes: registering the remaining 118,950 civil servants and authenticating the documents collected before determining whether the sharp increase in family allowance spending reflects legitimate claims, administrative errors, or confirmed fraud.

Source: Sbbc