To effectively realise 2024 budget: SW Governor challenges citizens to shun ghost towns, tax evasion.

The senior civil administrator made the call during the launching of the 2024 budget in the South West Region. The event took place at the esplanade of the Buea Council on Tuesday January 16. 

Those who advocate ghost towns, Okalia Bilai declared, want to kill the economy of the South West Region and retard its development.

“People who advocate ghost towns want to kill the economic activities, but we must stop it because it is in the interest of our region that it is stopped. We cannot execute this budget if we are maneuvering not to pay the taxes,” the Governor stated. 

The 2024 budget for the South West Region for both investment and recurrent expenditures stands at slightly over 22 billion FCFA. The amount witnesses a decline of about three billion from the close to 25 billion the region operated on in the 2023 fiscal year.

The execution of the 2023 budget, the Governor disclosed, stood at 96.3% as against 97.4 in 2022 with recurrent expenditures at 98.10% and investment at 96.34%. 

The high execution rate, according to Governor Okalia Bilai, was a demonstration of interest by stakeholders in the execution of the budget in the region to develop it and improve the welfare of its denizens.

The close to 22.5 billion francs budgeted for the 2024 fiscal year includes over 13 billion for investment and 9.6 billion for recurrent expenditure.

Despite the shortfall in the budget in comparison to the 2023 fiscal year, the Governor assured the population that the deficit will be made up by investments projected by the government and its partners through the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction of the North West and South West Regions., PPRD-NW/SW. 

The PPRD-NW/SW, according to Dr Nana Mbafong Emmanuel, one of the presenters during the ceremony, will invest an additional 10 billion francs in the region. 

Addressing participants during the ceremony, the Head of Mission from Yaoundé, Njoh Niba Bernard, said the budget was adopted to the challenging international and local situations. 

“The budget this year was perceptible given that we are in a crisis at the international level, national level, an internal debt we must contain, and an inflationary policy we must control,” Njoh Niba explained. 

In this light, he echoed the Minister of Finance’s call for “discipline for all stakeholders involved in the execution of the budget” to ensure the President’s vision is realised.

He said the population must join efforts in ensuring that resources budgeted are mobilised so that the economic potential of the region is fully exploited. 

“…the resources must be produced locally through economic activities, though taxation, customs, tourism, hotels, and other activities to finance our budget. The South West Region has great economic potential and we must exploit it to produce the necessary income to execute our budget,” he said. 

75% of investment budget to run by regional, local elected officials

Addressing local and regional elected officials such as Mayors and members of the South West Regional Assembly, the Governor reminded them of the crucial role they play given the decentralisation drive of the Head of State. 

As a result of decentralisation, these officials, he said, will manage 75% of the investment budget in the region. In this light, the Governor challenged them to envisage projects that positively affect the lives of denizens of the region.

With an ever-improving security situation in the region, he challenged them to shun excuses and meaningfully execute the resources at their disposal to the benefit of the population.

Key projects envisaged for 2024

Some of the key projects envisaged to be executed in the South West Region in 2024 include the Kumba-Ekondo-Titi Road, a vital road for economic activities in the region, and the Nguti-Bangem Road that links the South West to the Littoral Region. 

These zones in the agricultural basin of the region, officials insisted, will permit the transportation of products to the local markets.

The region, it was added, will also witness significant investment in water utilities and health sectors within the regional budget as well as the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North West and South West Regions.