Enhancing councils’ performance towards an emerging Cameroon

By Cyprian Ntiamba Obi Ntui in Yaounde
Any keen observer of the way councils operate in Cameroon will agree that a certain docility envelopes them. They are not just lukewarm, but they function as though there is nothing at stake so there is no need to be worried. But there is a need not only to be worried but also to be in a hurry because underdevelopment is a disease that is killing masses of Cameroonians everyday.
    The ineptitude of councils in Cameroon is not unconnected with the fact that the central government (Yaounde) has not yet thought it fit to maximally empower these institutions. Councils are supposed to be purveyors of development at the grassroots. What councils do or do not do in Cameroon touches the ordinary citizen directly. So if Cameroon has to emerge or if it has to assume the status of an emerging nation in twenty years time, then the present status quo must change.
    Councils, whether urban or rural need to be active participants in the drive to pull Cameroon out of the morass of underdevelopment. Underdevelopment is indicated in widespread poverty and misery among a greater part of Cameroon’s population. It manifests in the absence of basic infrastructure like roads, electricity, portable water supply, affordable healthcare and so on. These are all taken for granted elsewhere. The phenomenon is also indicated in the malfunctioning or outright inability for these basic necessities to function even where they exist.

    To over turn this trend therefore, Cameroon needs to take its destiny in its own hands. The citizens must be able to provide these services themselves. They must be able to ensure that basic utilities function on a sustainable basis. This, indeed, is what is required, for a nation to be regarded as having emerged or being on the road to emergence.
    To be real actors in this process of emergence councils need to be empowered. They need to have the right caliber of personnel capable of bringing development to the grassroots. Councils also need material empowerment. They need a steady and regular supply of income from the centre so that they can carry out meaningful development projects.
    This objective can be achieved if the central government ensures that councils have the required manpower.
    Councils in Cameroon need to have a pool of career civil servants just as it obtains at the centre. A well trained and competent council staff should have the guarantee that he can be ensured of a successful civil service career, even at that level, with attractive terminal benefits. Council staff with the right qualification should be able to enjoy attractive salaries like their counterparts in the central administration and other institutions.
    Leaders in Yaounde need to ensure that qualified personnel are recruited to man the various departments of councils. Administration, accounts, works, health , education, agriculture among others are essential departments in councils whose effective and efficient functioning could speed up development at the grassroots and lift the country most surely to the status of an emerging nation.
    Funding the councils is also a critical issue. The present scenario where some councils, even though they are designated as rural, receive billions of francs CFA as funds while others are forced to make do with a few millions does not augur well for national development. A system should be put in place where every council knows what is in its budget every year and what it should expect to come to it every month from the Central government as revenue. Such funds should be substantial enough to enable councils not only pay staff salaries but to be able to carry out meaningful development projects.   
    The emergence of Cameroon cannot be possible when a large part of the population dwelling in the rural areas is ignorant of what is going on. Councils which are at the peoples’ door steps remain viable organs through which all Cameroonians could be mobilized to take active part in this drive towards emergence. To be an emerging nation requires drastic transformation in both urban and rural areas. The dual processes need to be accelerated if Cameroon has to be there in 20 years time.