Consolidating achievements:

Buea council adopts ambitious 2bn budget for 2017

By Boris Esono in Buea

Mayor Ekema Patrick

The Buea municipality has voted the sum of over 2 billion FCFA as budget for the year 2017. The impressive sum that was balanced in revenue and expenditure was examined and adopted during the second and last council session for the year 2016 holding at the council chambers on Tuesday 20 December 2016. The 2017 budget observed an increase of 18.53% compared to the 2016 budget.

                Speaking during the budgetary session, the Lord Mayor of Buea, Patrick EsungeEkema, explained that the observed increase of the 2017 budget compared to that of 2016 is informed by the ambitious projects the municipality has programmed for 2017. The projects include notably the purchase of transport vehicles for the council and employment of more youths to curb unemployment in the municipality among others.

                The mayor noted that the Buea council is the only council in Fako that has not benefitted any state subvention in 2016. “Thus have meandered our way through human and nocturnal forces to achieve our set goals for 2016,” Mayor Ekema said.

                Frowning at acts of indiscipline notably disloyalty, lack of commitment to work, misappropriation of council funds, boycott of council and public events, using the press to tarnish the council’s image, gossiping, blackmail and other “unacceptable acts” perpetrated by some staff and councilors of the municipality, the mayor fired a grim warning at these “black legs in the house”, hammering that those guilty of such acts in the future will face the law.

For his part, the SDO for Fako, Zang III, called on the councilors to be professional and duty conscious, exhorting them to give their full support to the mayor in his stride to develop the municipality.

                The SDO urged staffers and councilors to refrain from the bad habits of blackmailing and gossiping.

                He advised the mayor to be more conservative in managing the council’s finances. For instance Zang III suggested that instead of always purchasing new vehicles, the mayor can repair the already existing ones and use the money to carry out long lasting development projects for the municipality.