Meeting in Yaounde on June 3, 2026, the Steering Committee for the Family Allowance Audit Operation – AALFA held its first session under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finances, Louis Paul MOTAZE. This initiative is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to clean up the payroll database and achieve sustainable control over public spending.
The Minister of Finances, Louis Paul MOTAZE, opened the proceedings of this first session of the Committee responsible for steering the Family Allowance Audit Operation – AALFA. This major reform aims to improve the quality of state wage expenditures and preserve public finances. The family allowance audit comes in a context marked by an exceptionally rapid increase in the number of children declared by public servants. According to the data presented, this figure surged from 594,728 in June 2024 to 923,307 in March 2026—representing a 55% increase in just 21 months.
In response to this trend, Operation AALFA aims to verify the authenticity of the birth certificates used as the basis for family allowance payments, identify irregular situations, and, where applicable, recover sums that were unduly paid. “The objective of Operation AALFA is to remove all fraudulently registered children from the payroll database and to recover the sums improperly paid out for them,” declared the Minister of Finances.
Scheduled to span a 24-month period in accordance with directives from the Prime Minister and Head of Government, the operation will begin with a massive data collection and verification phase for the birth certificates of children declared by active public servants. Committee members were thus invited to contribute insights to ensure the success of this structural reform, which serves a more rigorous and transparent management of public finances.
In his address, the Cabinet member recalled the significant results achieved in recent years through operations aimed at cleaning up the payroll database. These include the physical headcount of government personnel conducted in 2018, which still generates estimated annual savings of 30.5 billion FCFA, as well as the operation to secure the database of beneficiaries and disability pensions, which yields annual savings estimated at nearly 12 billion FCFA.
Created by a decree from the Minister of Finances on July 5, 2024, the AALFA is chaired by the Minister of Finances. The Minister of the Public Service and Administrative Reform serves as the vice-chair. This interministerial body also brings together representatives from several strategic administrations, including the Ministry Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Ministry of Territorial Administration, the General Directorate for National Security, and the Director General of the National Civil Status Registration Office – BUNEC.
