Peanut councils' budget: Speed breaks to accelerated decentralisation!.

For the Biya regime, decentralisation is, without qualms, a panacea for development, peace, justice and unity of the country. The government in Yaounde remains adamant that Cameroon's decentralised unitary form of state is non-negotiable. 

For decades, the decentralisation process has not been completed, despite being blended with such an adjective as accelerated with "transfer of resources and competences" to councils.

The nexus of that decentralisation is in councils, be they sub-divisional or city councils. There are a total of 374 councils in the 10 Regions, consisting of 360 sub-divisional and 14 city councils. They are indeed grassroots governments, closest to the governed.

They are supposed to provide utilities like water, electricity, healthcare and basic infrastructure like roads, markets, hygiene and sanitation amongst others as enshrined in the texts that define their competences.

The contours of this paradigm, which is in line with the National Development Strategy 2020-2030, SND30, as outlined in a press conference last year by the President of United Cities and Councils of Cameroon, UCCC, Mayor Augustin Tamba, decentralisation aims to translate the commitment of municipalities to participate in Cameroon's economic revolution. The priority sectors are agriculture, livestock, fish farming, digital technology, water and energy with export outlets.

They are expected to execute several other types of projects, in particular, value-added projects, collective facilities, environment and sustainable development, capacity building for municipalities, digital transition and governance, as well as solidarity economy.

According to Law No. 2009/011 of 10 July 2009, relating to the financial regime of regional and local authorities, the councils must at least allocate 40 percent of their budget for investment.

This provision, however, has hardly been totally respected by some councils which allocate huge portions of their budget to operating expenditure, thereby leaving the population to wallow in underdevelopment. Some of these mayors cannot be blamed because they can hardly generate enough money to pay their staff.

We, at this daily newspaper, think it is in consideration of such situations and the crucial duties placed on councils by the decentralisation texts that parliament voted that at least 15 percent of the Finance Law, which is the national budget, should be allocated to councils.

Criteria to be used for the distribution of the 15 percent is another issue, but the vexing crux of the moment is that councils have not been paid the amount allocated to them by law.

Augustin Tamba, President of UCCC, has petitioned President Biya, to order a fair distribution of the budget that the state allocates to municipalities.

In the plea trending on social media, he said: "…there is a need for fairer equalization…”. 

“There are Ministries that give too many resources to very few municipalities. 20% of municipalities receive credit transfers when 80% are waiting empty-handed. We are asking for more fairness," he told the President.

The law on the General Code of Decentralisation of 24 December 2019, provides that the annual fraction of revenue allocated to councils should be set in the Finance Law. However, the law stipulates that the fraction cannot be less than 15%. But in reality, mayors complain that the allocation is often less than 15 percent.

Why is Yaounde reluctant or unwilling to abide by what the Finance Law orders?

We understand that for years and decades, Ministers in the capital have been used to fledging powers in managing their budgets and going so low to approve even allocations for micro projects like school toilets, without evening consulting the mayors.

Decentralisation has stripped them of many of those absolute powers and some of them reluctantly relinquished it with strings attached, more like "selling a goat and holding the rope", to borrow an African proverb.

Just recently, Yaounde announced, with sartorial elegance, that the management of Secondary Schools, has been transferred to councils. But councils will not employ or pay teachers. Would it not be "he who pays the piper dictating the tune," from the capital?

The Guardian Post concedes that many of the councils are ill-staffed to handle the developmental responsibilities allocated to them. But is it not the duty of government to train personnel posted to councils?

Why is it that after creating a Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development, Senior Divisional Officers, SDOs who belong to the Ministry of Territorial Administration, continue to ‘supervise’ and even dictate to elected mayors? 

Isn't it in the same reluctant egoism of absolute power and resistance to change that staff from a different Ministry should supervise elected mayors who should be answerable to the electorate and guided by their own Ministry and law?

Cameroonians of all political affiliations yearn for available and affordable social amenities and infrastructure. That responsibility has been transferred to mayors by law and they should be given all the funds provided for in the Finance Law so that they can perform in transparency and accountability to the electorate. They do not need to appeal to President Biya to have what has been legally allocated for the development of their municipalities.