Republic of Cameroon: Economic Partnership Agreement

Baroness Goudie Excerpts

Tuesday 29th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I declare an interest as an emeritus board member of Vital Voices Global Partnership. I welcome my noble friend Lord Grantchester’s regret Motion on the economic partnership agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Cameroon. I further regret that there has not been full parliamentary scrutiny of and interviews on this matter.

I am surprised that the Minister for Trade—the right honourable Liz Truss, who is also the Minister for Women and Equalities—has agreed to this agreement when we know how women are treated in Cameroon. They are treated as third-rate citizens, receive no respect and are imprisoned. They are just appallingly treated; the present leadership has treated women disgracefully. The leader of the opposition party, Kah Walla, has been to this country a number of times and has had meetings with both the Government and the Opposition over the last 10 years.

A group of prominent women leaders recently had an article in Bloomberg urging the IMF to halt talks on a proposed new loan because of the Government’s alleged misuse of funds intended to fight the pandemic. The IMF is very concerned about what has happened with the previous funding for the pandemic; this is echoed by Human Rights Watch. An audit by a supreme court body found corruption and mismanagement involving $326 million. In a letter to the IMF, 21 Cameroonian leaders demanded that the IMF withhold further money until there is clarification on how the money was spent.

Kah Walla, the leader of the opposition I mentioned earlier, asked for clarity on the funds and for a full audit. I know her extremely well; we have worked together for many years through Vital Voices Global Partnership, supported by Vital Voices, and she has raised these questions of human rights in Cameroon not only with our Government but with the EU, the UN and the American Government. The American Government are certainly very concerned about the situation in Cameroon. If the Government are considering doing a trade deal with this country—a country that does not respect human rights and has been found guilty of corruption—we need to have full scrutiny.

In May 2021, the House of Commons International Trade Committee wrote to the Government asking what consideration had been given to withdrawing funds due to human rights violations in the country. The Government have yet to respond. The House of Lords International Agreements Committee has raised concerns over serious human rights abuses. It also noted that the US withdrew its trade preferences under the African opportunities Act and that the Government have not consulted fully with the devolved Administrations, the dependencies and Gibraltar.