North West: Mayors celebrate cancellation of over 3 billion FCFA debt, express gratitude to Biya.

This was during the 16th General Assembly of the North West chapter of the United Councils and Cities of Cameroon, UCCC. The meeting took place in Bamenda on Tuesday October 8.

After declaring that the amount represented 75% of council debts in the North West Region, the mayors sent a motion of support to the Head of State, President Paul Biya, following the decision. 

They promised in the motion of support to Biya that the move will enable councils execute more projects in the interest of the population.

The meeting was chaired by Fundong Council Mayor, Denis Awoh Ndang, who doubles as North West Regional President of UCCC. 

Present was North West Governor, Adolphe Lele L'afrique, and representatives of various institutions like FEICOM, the United Nations Development Program, UNDP, the International Labour Organisation, ILO, among others.

According to Mayor Ndang, the decision taken in August this year during a board meeting of FEICOM in Limbe to cancel debts of North West councils is relieving. He stated that most councils in the region have been unable to collective revenue due to security challenges.

While calling for a minute of silence for the departed Mayors of the Region, Mayor Ndang reminded his colleagues of the need to collaborate with authorities for peace and unity to reign across communities in the North West Region.

The mayors expressed in their motion of support promised to accompany the Head of State in seeking lasting solutions to the armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions.

Mayors urged to champion grassroots dev’t 

In his address to the local development actors, Governor Adolphe Lele L'afrique reminded them that the cancellation of the debts should be a booster to development in their various communities.

Governor Adolphe Lele also called on the mayors to make good use of the money in the interest of the population. 

"It is a booster for local development that has been decided by the Head of State through FEICOM, and a message to council authorities to take the concern of the local population and contribute their own quarter, to grassroots development by mobilizing the population to improve on their living conditions," the Governor said.

Mayors to come up with new projects 

At the close of the meeting, the mayors assured the governor that they are going to use the money to fund new projects that will benefit the population. 

"Now that the debts have been cancelled, it gives us a leeway for councils of the North West Region to mature new projects for funding through FEICOM and meet the aspirations of the population," Mayor Ndang said.

On his part, the Mayor of Andek Council, Ubangoh Helly, revealed that over 36 million FCFA in debt have been cancelled for his municipality.

Mayor Ubangoh added that the Andek Council is going to come up with new projects which will be funded with the money.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3255 of Thursday October 10, 2024