Senate and Conference Centre staff were at work all-day yesterday putting final touches to the premises that will host Senators for a month.

Senators begin meeting in plenary today, November 12, 2015, at about 4 pm to kick-start the last 2015 Ordinary Session devoted to the scrutiny and adoption of the draft budget for the 2016 financial year. In spite of large-scale rehabilitation work going on at the Yaounde Conference Centre, today’s plenary will hold in the hemicycle, which has been prepared for the session. 

At about 10 am yesterday November 11, 2015, Valentin Pedoh, a logistics staff of the Conference Centre and one of his colleagues were seen unrolling the red carpet through the hallway unto the main glass entrance. Meanwhile, serious rehabilitation is going on in other areas of the huge structure, including the former offices of the Senate General Secretariat as well as halls previously used by commissions. As expected, invading noise from drilling and sawing was nerve-cracking, bringing to most minds the question on where the different committees of the Senate will be meeting during this usually intense session.

“Committees will meet as required because there are several halls ready to host them,” said a source in the General Secretariat to Cameroon Tribune. Few halls are available in the A-Complex part of the building which is beyond the reach of surrounding noise caused by works, he explained. Another hall situated next to the entrance of the Management Office of the Conference Centre, is also ready to host committee meetings.

Five kilometres away, the Public Contracts Regulatory Board’s head office building situated in the Dragages, neighbourhood which hosts offices of the General Secretariat, also has a big meeting hall on its second floor as well as another big hall and a smaller one on the ground floor. “These halls could be arranged if need be to host committee meetings,” the source reassured.