Civil Society criticizes utilisation of C2D funds

The Civil Society platform monitoring the implementation of the French Debt Relief programme, C2D, has observed a timid utilisation of the second generation funds amounting to about FCFA 211 billion (326 million euros).

This observation was made during an information day on the state of implementation of the C2D organised at the Jouvence Hotel in Yaoundé presided over by Jean Marc Bikoko, President of the Independent C2DTechnical Coordination follow-up Bureau.

On the occasion, Alain Bernard Mendouga, a member of the Independent C2D Technical Coordination follow-up unit maintained that, for the second generation C2D from 2011 to 2016, there were 14 conventions, nine have been signed and five are on standby and still waiting for the opinion of the French Development Agency, AFD.

He expressed fears that two years to the end of the second generation C2D, five programmes are still to be launched; the procedure for disbursement is not yet in place and there are indications the programmes are not likely to consume their allocated fund.

There is a problem of deterioration of reference, he said explaining that, in the case of classrooms, if the roof is to be replaced within a given period in the programme and this is delayed, the walls too start falling changing the amount needed to refurbish the classrooms.

He decried the lack of coherence between programmes and between sectors. In the professional training support programme dubbed AFOP for example, he lamented that youths were trained but have not been financed to carry out projects, while others who lack the necessary competence have been financed.

Mendouga maintained that AFOP has to look for funds for the youths trained, meanwhile it would have been logical to finance the people trained. In some sectors with little production, roads were constructed while in others food stuff cannot be transported for lack of roads. He sounded optimistic that with the coordination and participation of the beneficiary population and civil society, there is hope that things may get better.

The timid utilisation of C2D funds is not unique to the second generation as observed with the implementation of the C2D in social, production and transversal domains in the first generation which was supposed to run from 2006 to 2011, but prolonged to 2014.

It was observed that 15percent of the total of FCFA 352billion, 55billion have not been utilised as a result of late start and complexity of procedures and difficulties in launching the projects. The construction of classrooms had a difficult start and also the health sector with considerable amounts up to about 50billion out of the FCFA 55billion allocated. These two programmes slowed the execution of the first generation C2D.

Commenting on the implementation of the C2D on the education sector, Tasang Wilfred, CATTU National Executive Secretary indicated that, though the C2D helped contract and PTA teachers to double their salaries from FCFA 60,000, there are still problems.

He said education being the foundation is not being taken seriously; the teachers at the primary level have not given consideration and Government has not realised they have to pay more attention to these teachers who can make or mar the future of Cameroonians.

CATTU Secretary lamented that contract teachers are deprived of a lot of advantages; work in difficult areas, most of them ladies whose homes are breaking down, can’t be transferred, can’t go for further studies and they are condemned to remain at a certain level. ” This is a sin committed to this group of people”, he decried.