We, the members of the Collective of Civil Servants Holding a Ph.D. degree in Cameroon, hereby request the urgent intervention of the relevant authorities in order to put an end to the violation of our rights and to the discriminatory, inappropriate, and devaluing treatment of which we are victims.

In fact, the Collective has noted a worrying situation regarding recruitment in public university institutions, which is likely to permanently lower the quality of higher education in our country. We would also like to express our deep concern as the specific characteristics of our members working in various public administrations are not sufficiently considered.

Regarding recruitment in public universities, the recent protests by groups of Ph.D. graduates are far from isolated events. As soon as the results of the first phase of special recruitments of assistant lecturers in state universities in 2019 were published, a protest demonstration had already taken place, attended by several of our members. This resurgence of similar demands is undoubtedly the result of facts that cast doubt on strict compliance with the rules of fairness, transparency, and meritocracy in the recruitment process. We can cite the following examples:

- The unfair exclusion of our members from the special recruitment of assistant lecturers in state universities since the second phase in 2020, implicitly confirmed by the new call for applications following Press release No. 002/SG/PM of 14 February 2025, overlooking the fact that this discriminatory treatment is paradoxically often favourable to private sector employees;

- Violations of university ethics and the essential criteria to guaranteeing the integrity of the academic system, in particular, strategies to restrict applications in the process of numerical replacements of lecturers, confidential publication of recruitment results in certain institutions, failure to comply with qualification and competence requirements in certain positions, etc;

- The absurd emphasis placed on national ethno-regionalist interests in the publication of recruitment results, at a time when some countries understand that opening up to human resources at the international level is an excellent quality and requirement in higher education.

Furthermore, despite our many letters of complaint to the country's biggest authorities, our status in the civil service remains insignificant (needs to be linked to the practice and recognition of research work), in a context where the number of staffs holding a Ph.D. in the various public administrations continue to grow.

In addition, we can point several criticisms of our current governance, including:

- The proliferation of part-time teaching positions (lecturers and research assistants) in state universities, when this would have been an opportunity to recruit public employees with the appropriate profiles, thereby contributing significantly in reducing budgetary impacts;

- The reluctance to facilitate the right to change of status as stipulated in Article 15, paragraph 2, of the General Status of the State Civil Service (Decree No. 94/199 of 07 October 1994);

- The Higher Education Orientation Act of July 2023, which does not take particular account of the possibility of recruiting public servants in state universities as associate or permanent lecturers, in accordance with the special status of higher education lecturers of 19 January 1993;

- The failure to consider the often-better profiles of certain public employees with a Doctorate/Ph.D. to work as assistant lecturers in vocational university training institutions;

- The insufficient recruitment opportunities for unemployed Ph.D. holders in various public and private administrations other than higher education, to avoid the unfairness or discrimination during recruitment.

Considering the elements listed above, the Collective of Cameroon Civil Servants, holders of Ph.D. degree, wish through this petition;

- To call for an immediate end to all forms of exclusion and discrimination in the recruitment process in public university institutions,

- To request rigorous implementation of the rules of meritocracy for admission to higher education, as well as strict and impartial adherence to appropriate selection criteria, published in advance within a reasonable timeframe to facilitate the submission of application documents,

- To request reforms to be put in place, with its participation, to enable better use and development of Doctorate/Ph.D. level executives in the various public administrations.

Sincerely,