Off the wire
• News Analysis: Egypt tiptoes along 3-stage roadmap awaiting final dash  • Northern Ireland's First Minister resigns over political IRA crisis  • Austria-Hungary train services suspended due to overcrowding from asylum seekers  • 1st LD Writethru: Oil prices rebound despite rising inventories  • Austria expects to begin transfer of asylum seekers to Slovakia shortly  • Hundreds of refugees seek asylum in Denmark, more proceed to Sweden  • Urgent: U.S. dollar falls amid mixed data  • Belarus verifies four candidates eligible for presidential election in October  • Portugal calls on Guinean political actors to reach compromise amid crisis  • 22 judges in Ghana suspended over alleged corrupt conduct  
You are here: 　 Home

Salary arrears to former Cameroonian peacekeepers to be solved: official

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Afrian Union (AU) Resident Representative in Cameroon Mezui M'Ella said on Thursday the issue of salaries AU owned to former Cameroonian peacekeepers in Central African Republic (CAR) is to be solved "quickly."

Ella talked to the press after a meeting with Cameroon officials that it is a problem of administrative delays which are currently being dealt with in Addis Ababa.

About 200 former Cameroonian peacekeepers to CAR who returned back two weeks ago demonstrated in capital Yaounde Wednesday to claim their arrears.

Cameroonian Communication Minister and government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a press conference Wednesday AU owns 1,300 Cameroonian former peacekeepers 6 billion CFA francs (about 10 million U.S. dollars) representing 8 months of salaries from February to September 2014.

Bakary said on special instruction of the head of state, the defense minister met the demonstrators to bring to their knowledge the decision taken by the head of the state to authorize the immediate payment of the arrears before it is reimbursed by AU.

Cameroonian national radio reported Thursday evening the government started to pay the money to the soldiers from Thursday afternoon.

A civil war in Central Africa Republic broke out on Dec. 10, 2012 between Seleka rebel coalition and government forces. Seleka took power from President Francois Bozize in March 2013 and the rebel's leader Michel Djotodia declared himself as president.

Elected provisional president by National Transitional Council in April 2013, Djotodia was forced to quit power in January 2014 amid worsening violence between Christian anti-balaka group and Muslim Seleka. Catherine Samba-Panza was elected as provisional president by the National Transitional Council.

MISCA, the African Union peacekeeping mission in CAR was established on Dec. 5 and deployed on Dec. 19. The mission was taken over by UN peacekeeping mission MINUSCA on Sept. 15, 2014. Endit