Cameroon’s state-owned debt recovery company is bearing a property cost deemed disproportionate to its financial capacity, according to the Audit Chamber of the Supreme Court.
In an audit covering the 2018–2022 period, the court said SRC rents a building in the Bastos district of Yaoundé for its central services at a monthly cost of CFA45 million. The auditors noted that the five-year lease represents a total cost of CFA2.7 billion.
The Audit Chamber added that the contract is unfavorable because it does not allow early termination without “excessive penalties,” effectively locking the company into a rigid expense that is difficult to reduce in the event of budgetary pressure.
According to the report, the rental charge puts significant strain on SRC’s resources and generates “substantial losses.” At CFA540 million a year, the cost absorbs nearly one-third of the company’s total operating revenue, which stood at CFA1.8 billion in 2022. The court said the expense is disproportionate to SRC’s actual needs and financial means.
Deficits of about CFA1 billion and disputed cost deferrals
The Audit Chamber linked the high property cost to a deterioration in the company’s financial position, citing repeated deficits “of about CFA1 billion,” alongside questionable management practices. Auditors pointed in particular to “irregular deferrals of operating expenses” to liquidation accounts, which they said further weaken SRC’s financial trajectory, even though the company is tasked with securing recoveries on behalf of the state.
The report also questioned the real estate decision itself. SRC reportedly left its former downtown headquarters, a state-owned building, to move into a multi-story property in an upscale neighborhood. The court said the company should only have vacated a state-owned building to move into premises it owned itself. “By opting for such an expensive lease, the governing bodies led the company into an operation that is clearly loss-making,” the Audit Chamber said.
Beyond the lease, the audit highlighted multiple irregularities under the management of Chief Executive Officer Marie-Rose Messi, who has been in office since 2013. The court said SRC recorded a cumulative deficit of more than CFA2 billion over the 2018, 2020, and 2022 financial years, granted undue benefits to its executives, failed to transfer all recovered funds to the state treasury, and overstated the amount of claims to be recovered.
Ludovic Amara
