Members of the Cameroon National Commission on Local Finance (CONAFIL) have examined and validated local finance methods carried out within 2015 to 2020. This was in Yaounde on November 9th 2023, chaired by the Minister of Decentralisation and Local Development and cumulatively President of CONAFIL, Georges Elanga Obam.
The Commission members studied information documented for the five year period, put together by technical and financial partners concerning how income is generated, acquired and used by authorities at the helm of local communities. CONAFIL made up of experts from the Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance looked at the progress made in the field of finances during the five-years, the role of decentralized local authorities in deepening the decentralization process in the aspect of finance, the living conditions of citizens in relation to finance, the development of territories with regards to finance, the available financial resources and management and monitoring with respect to established norms.
Talking to the press, Minister Georges Elanga Obam underscored the importance of the validation exercise
“We have the obligation yearly to produce a report on local finances. and we did not doso during the last five years from 2015 to 2020. The information should be gathered from the local authorities, the ministry of Finance, FEICOM and the other partners and the other partners of Decentralisation. It has been very hard to have information but finally we got it.
And now we are presenting the results of our work so that the work would be validated and when the information is validated, we can now have tools to help local authorities and the administration to fine tune how to manage local finances” he said.
The session ended with the validation of the report on local finances for the period 2015-2020. This is in fulfilment of a decree passed in December 21, 2020 and amended in July 18, 2011, requiring CONAFIL to prepare an annual report on local finances, which is transmitted to the interministerial Committee on Local Services, for inclusion in the annual report on the state of decentralization and the operation of local services. Experts hold that, the validated report on local finances covering 2015 to 2020 would reinforce the administrative and financial autonomy of actors in decentralisation with a view to adequately manage regional and local interests. It also enables the public to know the state of local finance management in the reference period. Also, it is part of a process of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the decentralization process, in its specific aspect relating to revenue and financial management of decentralized local authorities. It also goes a long way to enable the State, its partners and donors to have useful and relevant information to better guide their decisions and support decentralized local authorities with sustained financial support towards governance. In addition, the validated report serve as a support for research in the academic field in aspects of decision-making. All these go a long way to support decentralized local authorities in carrying out their missions to improve the framework and living conditions of their inhabitants, as well as socio-economic development of territories. From the report, CONAFIL has learned lessons to amend it’s ways in future especially in improving local financial management and the strengthening of good financial governance in order to provide appropriate solutions and promote local development.
By Mildred Ndum Wung