- The
Communication Unit
- The Computer Unit
- The translation Unit
- The Sub-directorate for Mails and Liaison
The sum-total of these services constitute the principal task
of the GS, some of them being innovations of the Head of State's major
diplomatic move of the 30th of July 2005. It also runs the
day-to-day operations of the ministry while following-up the execution of the
decisions of the ministry.
b. The creation of the Career Management Unit
The CMU was created by presidential decree No. 2005/286 of
30th July 2005 organizing MINREX. Before then, the training
department of the Directorate of General Affairs managed the career of
diplomats. But the missions of that directorate being concentrated elsewhere,
the management of such a sensitive and core domain as the career of diplomats
was lacking. This led to the creation of this new body (CMU) at the GS. It
should be said that the Directorate of General Affairs did not really manage
the career of diplomats as such. It simply oversaw and received complains.
Diplomacy being the domain reserve of the Head of State, and owing to the
latter's political will to make the diplomacy of the state more muscular,
decided to create a Career Management Unit as a strategic instrument that can
help rationalize Cameroon's diplomacy.
This creation came at a strategic moment in Cameroon and world
history, that is, four years after the September 11 terrorist attacks of the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Four years after the launching of the
African Union. Cameroon was faced with the difficulties of getting the 2002
International Court of Justice decision on the Bakassi conflict applied by
Nigeria. Cameroon was also working on wooing investors at the very moment all
state forces focused on reaching the completion point of the Heavily Poor and
Indebted Countries Initiative. This was also the moment where the world hyper
power was formulating «Transformational Diplomacy». The creation of
the Career Management Unit, therefore, represented one of the most forceful
steps of Cameroonian authorities to modernize its diplomacy. It had been the
expectation of most Foreign Service Officers to have this unit created.
c. The missions of the CMU
What therefore are the specific missions of the CMU? CMU's
mission has been well spelled out in the July 30 2005 presidential decree
mentioned above. It is formulated in the following way;
- The management of usages and definition of modalities for
the application and planning of the rotation principle for diplomatic
personnel.
- The conception, tailoring and sharing of tools and methods
for the better management of careers in collaboration of the administrations
involved.
- The making of a databank on opportunities featuring on
international public services, and the coordination of matters relating to the
preparation of profiles of candidates.
- The follow-up of the application of the status of diplomatic
personnel.
- The follow-up of the career of Cameroonians occupying
international posts in collaboration with other competent departments.
It is clear from the above that the tasks of the CMU are
judicial, institutional and technical. To carryout the above mission, the unit
needs equipments, funds, personnel and political ease.
d. The functioning of the CMU
How is the CMU functioning? It is a little difficult to answer
this question because the text creating it did not specify how, nor did we find
any document explaining this. It is more difficult to explain the functioning
because the history of the unit, which would have otherwise guided us on this
issue, is quite short. This does not mean that the functioning at the moment
reveals any anomaly (probably because the unit is still in gesticulation), but
that the need could arise in future when the missions mentioned above all go
operational.
The creation decree however specifies that the unit is headed
by a unit head. In general civil service terms, a unit head is assisted by a
Chargé d'Étude and Chargés d'Étude Assistants.
Therefore, a secretary helps with some administrative tasks, while the unit
head and his collaborators handle the files.
It is also worth noting, from another perspective that for the
particular task of management of diplomatic personnel careers, three stages in
the chain of administration of MINREX have been mentioned. First it is the task
of the Minister to over-look the management of careers. This appears among the
many task of the Minister. Second, it is the task of the Secretary General to
manage the career of diplomatic personnel and fully apply the principle of
rotation. Lastly, it is the task of the CMU to tailor and coordinate all
matters relating to career management. What one can deduct from this triple
attribution is that the issue of career management and placing in IOs has come
to occupy a central position in the mindset of makers of Cameroon's diplomacy.
Equally, the triple attribution should not be read as redundancy, but as a
matter of insistence. After all, is the Secretary General not the direct
administrative superior to the CMU head? And is the minister not the
administrative superior to the former? This merging of coherence and insistence
ensures a primal position for the future the career of diplomatic personnel in
Cameroon.
e. The challenges of the CMU
The challenges of the CMU are numerous and non-exhaustive. As
any novel service in any administration, the CMU is faced primarily with
challenge of blooming into maturity. The first challenges are juridical in
nature. It is a question of formulating a modern, clear and equitable judicial
framework to apply to the diplomatic corps in Cameroon. Such a framework
requires a total revision of the obsolete confusing [complex] legal framework
that exists presently. It also means re-writing of existing texts relating to
the situation of diplomats, as well as creating a MINREX-MINEFI mix commission,
which should re-evaluate texts relating to financial indices for diplomatic
personnel.
At the technical level, it will be necessary to make an
inventory of diplomatic personnel in Central and External services of MINREX.
This will require the creation of a databank, which will not only inform
concerned quarters but also facilitate the placing of Cameroonians in posts in
IOs. At the diplomatic level, the challenge of the CMU also consists of
building a diplomatic lobbying. This should operate by having the issue of
positioning Cameroonians in IOs and having Cameroon host international events
or offices, appear on the minutes of all audiences granted by Cameroonian
authorities to state and none-state representatives.
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