REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Paix-Travail-Patrie SERVICES DU PREMIER MINISTRE SECRETARIAT GENERAL
REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace-Work-Fatherland PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE SECRETARIAT GENERAL
PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWING THE NATIONAL DECENTRALIZATION BOARD OF TUESDAY, 21 JANUARY 2020 ***
Yaounde, 21 January 2020
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, His Excellency Joseph DION NGUTE, this Tuesday, 21 January 2020, presided over the first ordinary session of the National Decentralization Board at main building of the Prime Minister’s Office, for the 2020 fiscal year. Apart from his close aides, the session was attended by Members of Government, Members of Parliament, representatives of the Economic and Social Council, representatives of municipal magistrates, as well as those of the civil society.
Three items featured on the agenda, namely:
- report on the activities of the Permanent Secretariat of the National Decentralization Board during the inter-session, by the Permanent Secretary of the NDB;
- statement of the Minister of Decentralization and Local Development on the theme: “General Regional and Local Authorities Code: a tool for modernizing the architecture of decentralization in Cameroon”;
- statement by the Minister of Finance on the theme: “Making financial resources available to Regional and Local Authorities: overview and prospects”;
In his opening statement, the Prime Minister noted that this session comes on the heels of the Major National Dialogue convened by the Head of State, with one of the flagship themes being decentralization, and the adoption by the National Assembly and the Senate, in an extraordinary session, of the bill on the General Regional and Local Authorities Code, followed by its promulgation on 24 December 2019, by the President of the Republic.
He further indicated that the said law induces a paradigm shift on the part of the actors in charge of the implementation of decentralization, and a perfect control of the human and financial resources dedicated to this public policy, taking into account the decisive advances it generates, through, inter alia, the status of local elected officials, the allocation of new and substantial financial resources for the financing of decentralization, as well as the granting of a special status to the North-West and South-West Regions.
Reporting on the activities carried out by the Permanent Secretariat of the National Decentralization Board during the inter-session, the Permanent Secretary noted that this body has, in particular, taken steps to follow up on the implementation of the directives of the Head of Government resulting from the session of the Board held on 17 September 2019, as well as the organization of inter-ministerial technical meetings on decentralization.