Hafis Ruefli, the head of a political movement that is calling for a radical change of power in Cameroon and political mediator, brandished the most potent weapon in his policy arsenal, unveiling an attractive economic plan yesterday by suggesting that an apposition Government in Cameroon could encourage the introduction of a living wage much higher than the national minimum wage as the country, he said has a lot of financial potential to fight against the state of low-wage economy.
The political mediator praised the growing grass-roots campaign for an CFA 312.50 an hour living wage in the political and economic capital cities, Yaounde and Douala and CFA 212.50 an hour outside the capital in order to reflect the real cost of living.
The mediator is the first one to make such proposal to a group of opposition leaders determined to create a strong coalition against Biya`s administration.
In reality the figures proposed by Hafis are significantly higher than the legally-binding less than CFA 156 an hour minimum wage.
His comments could pave the way for the coalition`opposition manifesto at the 2013 general election and 2018 presidential election saying that private companies winning government contracts would be forced to pay the higher rate if the coalition of opposition won power.
Senior Social Democratic Front sources said yesterday that no decision had been taken for the moment to join the coalition and also stressed that the party`s decision would depend on the state of the economy in 2013 and 2018.
Business leaders will be worried about the imposition of higher wage costs, especially if the economy is flat. The living wage could form part of Hafis`s anti-poverty strategy and the aim would be to boost wage packets by improving education, skills training and urging companies to pay more.
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