By DOH JAMES SONKEY IN YAOUNDE
The Control Commission of Collective Management Bodies of Authors and Royalties Rights in Cameroon has entered a new era under the chairmanship of Principal Civil Administrator, Effoudou Mpande Gilles Serge appointed last May 2, 2017 by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang.
Officially installing Effoudou Mpande Gilles Serge and other members of the Commission of Collective Management Bodies of Authors and Royalties Rights in Cameroon into their new functions last May 8, 2017, Arts and Culture Minister, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi tasked the Chairman and his team to do all in their best to restore order in the Category B Arts Sector (Music) and place transparency and accountability at the centre of their actions.
Speaking in the presence of the Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, Michel Ange Angouing, the Arts and Culture boss, Prof Narcisse Mouelle Kombi explained that the authors and royalties rights sector “plagued by contrary and contradictory winds portraying a serious crisis of governance and efficiency, confidence and legitimacy is undergoing changes.”
The Minister further explained that faced with the current situation, the President of the Republic, Paul Biya stepped in and prescribed measures intended to cleanse the authors rights sector in Cameroon and placed it under the Prime Minister’s authority.
Effoudou Mpande Gilles Serge takes over from the Control Commission’s pioneer Chair, Ngack Mahop Christophe appointed on 7 January 2016.
Arts and Culture Minister said the appointment of the new Chairman by the Prime Minister translates government’s attention paid on the reform process and above all, efficiency and serenity necessary for the good functioning of this process coordinated by the Ministry of Arts and Culture.
Born in Yaoundé in 1968, Effoudou Mpande Gilles Serge is taking over the Control Commission of Collective Management Bodies at the time internal wrangling has prevented the distribution of authors and royalties rights for the past two years to meritorious beneficiaries, thereby leaving artists in the country at the mercy of poverty and misery.
Before his appointment, this jurist by training has held several posts of responsibility at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms and at the Supreme State Audit Office.