National Assembly: Draft State Budget For 2019 Adopted

Within the coming hours, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril will forward to the Senate in respect of parliamentary tradition the Finance Bill of the Republic of Cameroon for the 2019 financial year the National Assembly adopted during a plenary sitting on November 28, 2018. The finance bill contains the 2019 draft State budget that stands at FCFA 4 850.5 billion. The plenary sitting to adopt the Finance bill lasted from 11:10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. as the Members of the National Assembly demonstrated resilience by working without going on recess. House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril chaired the plenary sitting in the presence of the Vice Prime Minister, Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, Amadou Ali. Cabinet ministers also patiently waited and answered questions the MPs asked in relation to their areas of competence.

The plenary sitting divided into three parts, started with the Rapporteur General of the Committee on Finance and Budget of the National Assembly, Hon. Koa Luc presenting the report of the scrutiny of the finance bill in the committee. He took over two hours to present the 87-page report. At the time the House Speaker opened the floor for general debates beginning with questions from MPs, Hon. Njong Evaristus of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) parliamentary group raised a preliminary objection whose main goal was for the bill to be withdrawn and sent back to the Committee on Finance and Budget for review. The preliminary objection, he explained, was provoked by issues such as the crisis in the North West and South West Regions, non-respect of the deadline to submit t...