Acha Motors Acknowledges Unpaid Wages in Dispute Over Company-Funded Drone
Acha Motors, a Limbe based Engineering company, has acknowledged owing wages to mechanical engineer Akogwa Fred Awah, who says he worked for the company for several months without receiving his salary, in a dispute that has now escalated over a drone project he took with him.
Awah says the company owes him more than 500,000 FCFA in unpaid wages after he began working in February.
An employment letter dated February 19, 2026, seen by CNA, states that Awah started work on February 12 as a mechanical engineer under a 90-day probationary period, with a monthly probationary salary of 150,000 FCFA.
At that rate, three months of unpaid wages would amount to 450,000 FCFA, before any additional period of work or other entitlements.
Acha Motors does not dispute that wages are outstanding. The company told CNA that it is aware of the unpaid wages and had been working toward settling them. It maintains that Awah remains an employee because he was never formally laid off.
The acknowledgement raises questions over why an employee continued working for months without receiving the remuneration stated in his employment letter.
Dispute over drone ownership
The dispute came to a head after Awah left with a drone project he had worked on while at the company. He says about 380,000 FCFA provided by Acha Motors was used to build the drone.
Acha Motors confirms that 380,000 FCFA was spent on materials but says the amount represents only documented material costs. The company says additional resources and unforeseen expenses were not included.
It values the completed project at 1 million FCFA and says the drone can be rented for 30,000 FCFA per day. The company says it has applied the same daily figure for every day the project remains outside its possession.
Awah has said the unpaid wages were central to his decision to retain the drone.
Acha Motors disputes his right to do so, arguing that the project was financed by the company and therefore constitutes company property. It says that when it contacted Awah concerning the project, he did not cite the unpaid wages as his reason for retaining it but instead ignored the company’s messages.
Awah has also alleged that messages from the company threatened to have him locked up if he failed to return the drone or meet its demands.
Acha Motors says it wants the project returned in an uncompromised condition and has proposed that Awah deduct what he considers to be his outstanding salary from the amount claimed for the project, with any remaining balance returned to the company.
The employment dispute also raises questions about Awah’s probationary status.
The letter seen by CNA provides for a 90-day probationary period. Acha Motors says Awah remained under observation because his performance had not fully met company standards and that probation had previously been extended for other employees who required additional time to meet company expectations.
The company has also acknowledged shortcomings in its employment documentation, saying its HR department was overwhelmed and that management had relied on verbal arrangements while paperwork was being processed.
Cameroon’s Labour Code requires probationary hiring to be stipulated in writing. Under Section 28, probation is intended to allow both the employer and worker to assess the employment relationship, including the worker’s services, working conditions and wages. The law limits probation to six months, including renewal, except for managerial staff, for whom it can extend to eight months. It further provides that when employment continues beyond the expiry of probation without a new contract, the parties are deemed to have entered into a final contract from the beginning of the probationary period.
The International Labour Organization also identifies Cameroon as having ratified the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95). The ILO has specifically addressed the importance of regular wage payment and preventing the accumulation of wage arrears in its observations concerning Cameroon.
Awah, who has received national awards for his work, maintains that he worked and contributed to the company despite not receiving his remuneration.
The case now centres on two interconnected but distinct issues: the unpaid wages acknowledged by Acha Motors and the company’s claim to ownership of the drone.
The amount ultimately owed to Awah, the status of his employment after the probationary period, ownership of the completed project and the basis for the company’s 1 million FCFA valuation and 30,000 FCFA daily charge remain matters for documentary evidence and, if necessary, determination by the competent labour or judicial authorities.
