Supreme Court Audit Bench : Senators Recommend Management, Financial Autonomy

After listening to Mrs. Justice Justine Fofung epouse Nabum Wacka, Acting President of the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 16, 2020, present her report on recent activities and plans for the future, most of the senators who reacted recommended the urgent need for the Audit Bench to be granted management and financial independence. The discussions took place during the 14th Exchange Forum between the Senate and the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court at the Yaounde Conference Centre. The sitting was chaired by Senator Sylvestre Naah Ondoa. Though some of the senators were of the opinion that the house should initiate reforms of the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court, others suggested lobbying the Ministry of Justice for an eventual government bill on reviewing the functioning of the Audit Bench. Some senators pointed out that granting the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court financial autonomy required deep constitutional reforms. Yet another set of senators argued that the coming into effect of the Special Status for the North West and South Regions should go along with independent regional audit courts.

Earlier in her presentation on the “Evolution of the Jurisdiction of the Audit Bench and its Impact on the Management of Regional and Local Authorities,” Mrs. Justice Fofung said only 16 out of the 374 councils in the country submitted their audited reports to her office in 2016. And between 2004 and 2017, councils failed to submit a whooping 3,700 audited accounts to her office. She attributed the laxity ...