Members of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Local Services, a consultative body with the responsibility to prepare and monitor the transfer of powers and resources to regional and local authorities, will meet in Yaoundé today, December 21 to prepare for more effective transfers in 2011. The Committee is placed under the Minister in charge of Decentralisation. The Minister of State, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Marafa Hamidou Yaya , Committee’s chairperson is expected to preside at today’s session.
The Inter-ministerial Committee on Local Services will be meeting more than a month after the National Decentralisation Council met on November 11 and decided that 14 ministries will transfer powers and corresponding resources to City, Subdivision and Local Councils in 2011. The State effectively started transferring powers and resources to Councils in the expiring 2010 and this concerned only nine ministries. The five more ministries in 2011 include the Ministries of Trade, Urban Development and Housing, Youth Affairs, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicraft and Tourism.
The National Decentralisation Council with Prime Minister Philemon Yang chairperson is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of decentralisation. The Council certainly gave directives, the Inter-ministerial Committee on Local Services has to follow as the second generation of transfer of powers and resources to councils begin in January 2011. The Committee’s members will use today’s session to evaluate the first generation of transfer of powers, identify problems, obstacles and adopt solutions that will guarantee greater success in 2011. Members of the Committee had the first ordinary session for 2010 on September 17. They evaluated the transfer of power and resources to councils in 2010 and drew up a draft programme for 2011 its chairman, Marafa Hamidou Yaya presented to the National Decentralisation Council last November 11.
