12 local councils receive German assistance

The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, René Emmanuel Sadi, has urged Governors of the Centre, Far North, West and South West Regions to ensure the judicious use of computer equipment and motorcycles handed over to 12 councils on July 22, 2016 in Yaounde.

The equipment was provided as part of the second component of the FCFA 10 billion Decentralisation Programme for the Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance (FEICOM) and Average Cities, funded by German Cooperation.

While presiding over the handing over ceremony in the FEICOM courtyard on Friday, Minister Sadi expressed hope that the equipment will not only enable the councils carry out activities planned within the programme dubbed “PDFVM”, but also significantly contribute to the promotion and emergence in a Cameroon of a generation of well-managed secondary towns with basic utilities that ensure the well-being of the population.

He also hailed support given by the Federal Republic of Germany through various cooperation institutions for boosting Cameroon’s decentralisation process. According to the representative of the German Ambassador to Cameroon, Annette Coly, the programme was an illustration of fruitful relations between the two countries.

The beneficiary councils of Kousseri, Mora, Mokolo, Yagoua, Obala, Mbalmayo, Tiko, Buea, Dschang, Bangangte, Foumbot and Bafang, were selected for the second component of the PDFVM Programme launched in April 2014 to enable them effectively manage powers transferred by the State.

While the first component worth over FCFA 8 billion was consecrated to the funding of selected council projects and capacity building, FEICOM was beneficiary of the third component to enable it steer the programme.

This assistance, FEICOM’s General Manager, Philippe Camille Akoa acknowledged, was yet another facet of German support to FEICOM’s ongoing modernisation process.