Participatory Development: Gov’t Rewards More Performant Local Councils

Thirty local councils across the country have been rewarded by the government for their performance in local governance and development as well as their progressiveness. The councils, three from each of the 10 regions, were honoured at an award ceremony in Yaounde, Wednesday October 31, 2018.

According to officials of the National Community-driven Participatory Programme (PNDP), they opened a performance desk through which they monitored and assessed the performance of participating councils in the competition.

In evaluating the councils, Regional Technical Teams put in place considered variables such as accounts management and budget execution, transparency and local governance, as well as the execution and follow-up of PNDPsponsored projects. Some 336 councils out of 360 are said to have participated in the competition which is in its second edition.

The other councils couldn’t participate due to accessibility problem orchestrated by insecurity in some parts of the country. As prize money, each of the 20 councils that made it to performance honour roll bagged home FCFA 50 million, while the 10 councils which distinguished selves for progressiveness each received FCFA 25 million. The award money is to be used to fund micro projects. Bamendjou council in the West Region emerged as the most performant council in the country, scoring 87/100.

Somalomo council in the East Region got the Best Progressiveness Prize, leading nine other councils with a score of 60.12. Nguti, Balikumbat, Ayos, Tombel, Tiko, Elak-Oku, Kumbo, Soa, Obala, amongst other councils, were honoured. Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, encouraged the local councils which made progress.

He commended the council executives for adopting and practicing an in ...