Delegates reject FCFA 10,000 session allowance

Some Divisional Delegates invited to the 2015 Administrative and Management Accounts session of the Kumba I Council recently rejected FCFA 10,000 allocated for them as sitting allowance.

The Delegates reportedly rejected the amount because it was small compared to what other councils offer.

According to a staff of Kumba I Council who handled the envelopes for service heads, the confusion arose from the conflicting figures entered onthe allowance list and those written on the envelopes.

The council staff explained that the sheet of paper on which the officials signed showed FCFA 15,000, whereas the actual amount in the envelope was FCFA 10,000.

The confusion, the staff said, was due to a typing error at the level of the council's treasury when the amount was being prepared.

Another story is reported of a Delegate who protested at the Kumba III Sub-divisional Council over a session allowance of FCFA 5,000.

The official reportedly ended up taking home FCFA 20,000 after he questioned if he was invited to be disgraced with FCFA 5,000.

The Post gathered that other councils within the same municipalityoffer FCFA 40,000 as session allowancefor Divisional Delegates.

On several occasions, the SDO for Meme, David KoulboutAman, has stressed on the need to have the Divisional Delegates present at all sessions.

According to the SDO, such services offer a lot of technical advice that help to direct development projects in line with Government policies.

Before now, the administrator had called on the council to step up revenue collection so as to meet up with all earmarked projects.

Meanwhile, Koulbout appreciated the council’s executive for investing over FCFA 99million in development projects.

He rated the amount as constituting 30percent of the budget thereby requiring more to be done.

Accounts presented at the session showed that out of a budget of FCFA 653 million in 2015, the council realised over FCFA 345 million.

Earlier, Mayor Abel Ebako had stated that with actions already initiated on roads, education, health and other social amenities, the support of all is still needed to hit the expected development target in the interest of the population.