The curious 55% increase in children under two years old triggers the launch of an audit aimed at detecting potential fake documents and recovering unduly received funds.
The sudden increase in children declared for family allowances in Cameroon has piqued the curiosity of the state apparatus. On June 3, 2026, the government launched the Family Allowances Audit. Operation AALFA, led by Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze, aims to confirm the authenticity of birth certificates of children produced by parents applying for family allowances. Otherwise, it seeks to remove fraudsters from the lists of family heads eligible for these allowances, in order to reduce expenses caused by fraudulent acts.
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If the government is launching such an operation, it is to ensure that doubts about the rising figures are dispelled and that funds go to bona fide beneficiaries. Between June 2024 and March 2026, the number of family allowance beneficiaries increased by 55%. It rose from 594,728 to 923,307, an increase of 328,579 beneficiaries in 21 months.
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This hitherto unjustified and misunderstood leap is behind this operation, which will last 24 months. Ultimately, it will identify potential fraudsters and, above all, recover sums of money unduly received by fictitious beneficiaries since their admission to the system.
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