He made an update this Thursday, October 21, 2021, referring instead to having used persuasion and not coercion in a statement he jointly signed with his counterpart in Public Health, Malachie Manaouda.
Faced with popular discontent over the government’s initiative to vaccinate all civil servants and public officials, the Minister of Civil Service and Administrative Reform (Minfopra) is trying to calm things down.
Indeed, the Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform, Joseph Le, was previously counted among the ministers who want to force their staff to administer the vaccine. Obviously wrongly because he believes he knows he has been misunderstood. In an update published this Thursday, October 21, 2021 on the Facebook page of his ministerial department, he tries to refocus his remarks in a message addressed to public officials of the state.
“This is not true! We would like to point out that there was never any question of forcing state personnel to be vaccinated. PERSUADE, YES !!! OBLIGATE, NO (NOT YET) !!! “, He reacted, while things are going all over the place in public opinion. It is first of all the Bar Association of Cameroon that has stepped up to denounce a “serious violation of freedoms“, following this trend towards compulsory anti-Covid vaccine; then, the teachers also left their reserve, and wrote to the President of the Republic to be outraged by these measures taken here and there by the authorities, even threatening to go on strike if said measures were imposed on them.
Below the full development of Joseph Le:
UPDATE ON THE PUBLIC OFFICIALS VACCINATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST COVID-19
SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear Officials and State Agents of Cameroon,
I am addressing you, in my capacity as Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform.
Indeed, information published and widely relayed in social networks, by certain trade union corporations, shows that the vaccination campaign that my colleague the MINSANTE and myself, will launch in the coming days, would render the administration of the COVID vaccine compulsory for serving public officials and those who have been admitted to assert their pension rights.
This is not true!
We would like to point out that there was never any question of forcing state personnel to be vaccinated.
PERSUADE, YES !!!
OBLIGATE, NO (NOT YET) !!!
Our approach, which is essentially persuasive, stems from the high instructions of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, relating to the response strategy against the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in our country.
It is therefore in application of these directives that the Minister of Public Health and the Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform have proposed, as a leading action, the intensification of the vaccination campaign on the national territory. , intended for all personnel who pay into the State budget.
It is not a question, not of forcing you to be vaccinated, but more of sensitizing you, of persuading you, by presenting to you the benefits of this saving act, which in no way obliges public officials to submit to vaccination, but to urge them to do so in the interest of their well-being and that of society as a whole.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Civil Servants and State Agents,
Like us, you have certainly seen the resurgence of this terrible disease, and in particular of its Delta variant, which is more virulent and therefore kills many of our people.
Who’s next, in the next few minutes, in the next few hours or in the next few days?
Maybe you or someone who is very dear or very close to you: your wife, your husband, your child!
Alas, this is the drama that many families are aiming for lately !!!
This is why the State of Cameroon, within the framework of its sovereign missions, intends not only to encourage public officials, but also to facilitate their access to this offer of health care that the Government makes available to them free of charge, in accordance with the high instructions of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul BIYA.
To this end, we will bring the vaccination teams closer to your home administrations or your geographic areas of residence.
Moreover, preserving the health of personnel in the service of the State is as much a major concern as a duty for the public authorities.
We must therefore ensure that the workplace is not a place for the spread of the virus, but a framework for professional development and health promotion for all.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear public officials.
As it stands, vaccination is the best choice to protect us from the searing attacks of this terrible pandemic.
It provides both security and protection, essential for the performance of our activities as public officials and for the preservation of the lives of our retirees.
Also, on behalf of the Government, I appeal to the conscience of all Cameroonians in general, and public officials in particular, so that ALL of us can adhere to this option of vaccination against the coronavirus.
It is the vaccine that gives us the best chance of extending our life expectancy.
It is then that, all vaccinated, we will be STRONG and we will be able to work without risk of endangering each other through any contamination.
This is why I invite all of you, serving or retired public officials, to approach the Vaccination Units which will be deployed in the central services of the ministries and in the decentralized services, from November 5 to 30, 2021.
ALL TO VACCINATION FOR COLLECTIVE IMMUNITY AND FOR A RISK-FREE AND COVID-FREE PUBLIC SERVICE!
