Judges Drilled on Assessment Mechanisms of 2013 Programme Budget

A two-day workshop organised by the Ministry of Finance began in Yaounde yesterday July 25.

Judges of the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court are currently being schooled on the fundamentals of the new budgetary system of the State, "Programme Budget," to fully go operational on January 1, 2013 so that they ably play their roles of assessing how the budget was executed. A two-day capacity building workshop to this effect organised by the Ministry of Finance went underway at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel yesterday July 25. The Minister Delegate to the Minister of Finance, Pierre Titti, chaired the opening ceremony.

The workshop has as goal to arm the judges with up-to-date knowledge and mechanisms through which they can live up to expectations with what is expected of them in the efficient execution of the State budget. Law No. 2007/006 of December 26, 2007 relating to the Fiscal Regime of the State makes provisions for the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court to review the State budget of the previous year. Section 72 of the law stipulates that, "The judicial control of public accounts shall be conducted by the audit courts provided for in the constitution."

Speaking during the opening ceremony, Mr Titti said, by virtue of the country's Constitution, the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court has a mandate to assist and advise both the executive and legislature, and so needed to be well drilled on the innovations contained in result-based management budget. "We hope that participants will through this workshop understand the philosophy of programme budget, how it is drawn up and how they can evaluate the performance of government," the Minister Delegate said.

"This workshop is very important for us because the law makes provisions for the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court to review the State budget of the previous year. It will inspire us on how to assess the execution. This is a new type of budgetary system and we hope to better understand its fundamentals so as to efficiently assess its execution when the moment comes," Justice Justine Fofung Wacka, President of the 4th Division of the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court, told Cameroon Tribune. The workshop ends this Thursday.