Decentralisation : Rendering The Dev’t Trigger Fruitful!

One of the strides of the New Deal Regime as it celebrates 41 years of continuous rule in Cameroon is no doubt the path covered by the decentralisation process. As a matter of fact, taking governance closer to the governed or getting the central government to relinquish some of its sovereign powers to the grassroots, like Cameroon has been progressively doing within the framework of its decentralisation process, has moved appreciable steps over the years. Regions, which went fully operational in 2021 as local authorities, are the last institution enshrined in the 1996 Constitution to complete the decentralisation process in the country.
Added to City and Municipal Councils as well as the House of Chiefs for the North West and South West Regions; owing to their cultural and language specificities, these give the population a leeway to propose and participate in developing their respective areas based on their tastes. The putting in place of legal and administrative instruments to complete the decentralisation process is logically in line with President Paul Biya’s observation during his inaugural speech for the ongoing term of office on November 6, 2018 when he said, “… our population’s repeated desire to be more closely involved in the management of their local affairs prompted us to take necessary measures to fast-track the decentralisation process.” The Head of State’s insistence during the oath-taking came after the creation of the Ministry for Decentralisation and Local Development on March 2, 2018 vested with full powers of drafting, monitoring, implementing and assessing government policy on decentralisation and promoting local development.  The importance the New Deal master-planner, President Paul Biya, attaches to the process cannot therefore be overemphasized. 
Underlining in his State-of-the-nation’s address on December 31, 2021, that: “Overall, regionalisation is being implemented countrywide and contributes towards increasing our fellow citizens’ participation in the management of local affairs,” speaks of the desire, at the highest level, to meet the genuine aspirations of the people who have been strongly desiring to know what is being done for them, have a platform of telling the government what they need and join hands in giving their respective areas the development they so much desire.
Given that the process is still far from living up to expectation, all and sundry must therefore join hands with the President of the Republic to ren...