City-Municipal Councils : Making Collaboration A Priority

Effective collaboration is imperative for every growth process. With Cameroon currently embarking on accelerating its decentralisation process through the transfer of some competences to regional and local authorities, collaboration between these elected officials who are the torch bearers of this policy at the local level remains crucial. There exist a General Code on Regional and Local Authorities which outlines the various functions of elected officials. Despite the existence of a law, there still exist some degree of fiction between City Mayors and Municipal Mayors over several aspects. For example, the construction of a communal road, garbage management, collection of taxes, construction of markets, issuance of building or demolition permits, urban planning certificates, and other projects to the benefit of the community. In most cases, the conflict of interest stalls development and produces other effects on the community. It is against this backdrop that the Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development organised the first-ever symposium on collaboration between City Mayors and Municipal Mayors in Bafoussam, West Region on July 31 to August 1, 2023. The two-day meeting presided at by Minister Georges Elanga Obam ended with a series of recommendations, top of which is giving dialogue and collaboration the pride of place. Participants identified 16 avenues for harmonious collaboration between these decentralised actors. As a result, the Bafoussam workshop reflected on mechanisms for the development of a charter of collaboration between City and Municipal Councils, with a view to structuring and formalising exchanges between the two entities. Take the case of waste management for example, it was recommended that with regards to the exercise of duties, the Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development would urgently initiate, in liaison with the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Housing, the process of stabilising the methodological ap...