Rowing against the Tide of Civil Service Negotiations in Cameroon

Abstract

Very few studies have focused on “reformers or innovators from within” in
public services in Africa. To contribute to this debate, this article shows that
pockets of integrity, probity and exemplarity do exist. It proposes a case
study of innovation from within in the field of road safety, favoring a socioanthropological approach and highlighting a citizen who can be described as
a “street-level bureaucrat”, i.e. in direct contact with users. This is Pointinini,
a police officer who, through his singularity in road traffic management in
Yaoundé, opposes “the privatization of public services”, thus individually
nurturing the image of his profession and personally challenging the image of
a totally corrupt police force.