Such information coming from MINATD certainly augurs well for the much-needed development of the towns and local communities across the country that has remained stagnant in most development initiatives. However, the cautious note by the Minister when he said cases of bad governance have been witnessed within some councils during the short period of decentralisation, calls for a deeper reflection on the entire process. The sticky issue here is that development and mismanagement do not go together. Also, it will be almost impossible to achieve much within the decentralisation process if the transfer of human and material resources is not done in a prudent manner so as to ensure that funds placed at the disposal of various councils are adequately accounted for.
Understandably, the transfer of resources and the enactment of a statute for mayors that guarantees fixed salaries for them and their aides will not only empower the mayors, but it will also provide the life wire for survival in most councils. To virtually all the mayors who attended the Yaounde confab that ended last Friday, the slow pace of effective decentralisation has clearly been detrimental to progress. But information that the initial FCAF 50 million given to councils that do not have Government Delegates has been mismanaged may provide an alibi for some ministries to justify the reluctance to transfer resources to local councils. Yet, such an excuse would be untenable given that most, if not, all mayors have operated over the years without the competent manpower to manage council resources. Thus, it is imperative that councils should be provided with qualified human resources before some level of accountability is be expected of them.
To avoid any vicious cycle whereby mayors manage badly because they do not have qualified staff with whom to work or to hold back resources from councils because they are badly managed, would be unfair to the population that is expected to be the first beneficiaries of decentralisation. It requires well-thought-out projects as well as sound management and evaluation strategies for the plethora of development needs of councils and towns to be well catered for.
And since political clamour in the country in the past years has been the dire need for results, councillors would need to present their own balance sheet when time comes. President Paul Biya has repeatedly said the current seven-year mandate given to him by Cameroonians must produce concrete results with Cameroon transformed into a vast work site. This means the government; mayors and the population must choose infrastructural improvement as part of the key components for development in Cameroon. The ripple effects of such an approach will be an improvement in the living conditions of the people as they get jobs in the different work sites in the councils. However, if the necessary conditions for accountability are not put in place, it would be almost obvious that all claims of results and efficiency may end up as a pipe dream.
