Local Government Funding. PM Prescribes New Budgeting Method
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, Mr. Philemon YANG, presided over the first regular session of the National Council of Decentralization for the year 2018 on Tuesday, August 07, 2018.
Emmanuel NGOTA
Present during the session were members of the government, parliamentarians, representatives of the Economic and Social Council, representatives of municipal magistrates, as well as those of civil society who brainstormed on five main items.
The items addressed were the report of the activities of the permanent secretariat of the National Council of Decentralization during the inter-session, by the permanent secretary of the CND;
the presentation by the Minister of Decentralization and Local Development on the operationalization and the priority projects of MINDDEVEL; the presentation by the Minister of Finance on “making available to the various beneficiaries (Municipalities, Urban Communities, Supporting Structures and Municipal Magistrates with regard to their remuneration) resources from the General Staffing of Decentralization and local taxes subject to equalization, for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 fiscal years ;the statement by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Spatial Planning on “the new methods of allocating resources to the Communes and Urban Communities, pursuant to Circular No. 001 / CAB / PRC of 20 June 2018 on the preparation of the State Budget for the financial year 2019 and the review and adoption of the draft Cameroon Local Development Index document.
In his opening remarks, the Prime Minister, Head of Government, noted that this session took place in a context marked by the creation, since 02 March 2018, of the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development, in charge of developing monitoring, implementation and evaluation of the decentralization policy, as well as the promotion of local development.
To this end, he called on the entire government to mobilize to give substance to the iterative speech of the President of the Republic, in relation to the acceleration of the decentralization process. Reporting on the activities carried out by the Permanent Secretariat of the National Council for Decentralization during the inter-sessional period, the Permanent Secretary noted that this body has, inter alia, by carrying out the implementation of the Head of Government’s directives aimed at strengthening the decentralization process, and presented the draft Local Development Index document.
In his presentation, the Minister of Decentralization and Local Development focused on the operationalization of his ministerial department with the appointment of the Secretary General since 20 July 2018, and the signature by the Head of State on 1 August 2018, the Decree on Organization of the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development. He also mentioned the priority projects of his ministerial department, among others: the realization of the legal and institutional prerequisites necessary for the establishment of the Regions; reinforcement of institutions supporting decentralization, notably the reform of the Training Center for Municipal Administration (CEFAM) and the Special Fund for Equipment and Inter-municipal Intervention (FEICOM); taking into account the specificities of the decentralized territorial communities and the recognition of their managerial and financial autonomy; updating the draft National Strategy for Decentralization.
