Limbe I Councillors approve gender-sensitive budget

Councillors of the Limbe I subdivisional council has adopted a gender-responsive-policy for the municipality.

The endorsement was given following a proposal by Mayor Ro-danny Mbua Mokako that the council budget be engendered such that it reflects the disadvantaged groups such as, women, boys and girls.

The adoption of this innovative policy took place during the first ordinary session of the council for 2015 dedicated to the examination and adoption of the administrative and management accounts and stores keeper’s reports of the 2014 Financial year last June 15, at the Limbe I council hall.

To materialise the new policy, Mayor Ro-danny Mbua, proposed that a councillor will be sponsored to gain training on gender-budgeting. However, other councillors felt that more one councillor be trained. The mayor, in the end promised that something will certainly be done to that effect.

As concerns the accounts proper, the finance committee observed that the mayor’s and management accounts were accurate . They however observed that there were some irregularities with the stores accounting reports and asked for corrections before the end of the session.

At the close, the councillors unanimously adopted the three accounts presented after some amendments.

Other deliberations examined included the special grants from the Limbe City Council which normally stood at FCFA 110,000,000 but which witnessed a drop to FCFA 95,000,000 for 2014. The councillors joined the mayor to see the Government Delegate to the City Council to redress the issue making sure that the balance be paid this year to encourage hard work.

Another deliberation adopted by the councillors was that building permit taxes which was FCFA 10,000 for all categories will now be FCFA 10,000 for bungalows while any structure above a bungalow will be FCFA 20,000.

It was announced that the Limbe I Council is into a partnership with the LUKMEF for the construction of a web site and ventilated classrooms.

Speaking earlier, Mayor Ro-Danny Mbua Mokako gave a flashback of achievements included, the grading of the network road at Mawoh, the provision of water supply in Mabeta New layout and building of some stores in front of Bota Hospital. “These are some of the projects that will help improve on our revenue and well as improve on the living standard of our people”, Mayor Rodanny said.

While presenting the accouts, the mayor noted that, the council projected an estimated budget of FCFA 400,000,000 which had an additional budget from government credits of FCFA 98,587,800 and that recurrent revenue stood at FCFA 374,610,000.

Specifically, FCFA, 350,772,368 was realised and he noted that the above recurrent revenue came from the city council and other council taxes making a percentage of 93.64%.

The mayor further said revenue stood at FCFA 158,587,800 and noted that the council only recovered FCFA 98,587,800 giving a 62.17%. As concerns expenditure, he said the sum of FCFA 282,217,800 was estimated as recurrent expenditure but FCFA 269,772,734 was spent on salaries, purchase of materials, taxes duties, transfers, sundry and others making 96.59%.

Mayor Ro-Danny Mbua Mokako briefed that out of the sum of FCFA 250,980,000 which was estimated as investment expenditure, FCFA 177,409,949 was used on some projects such as Mile One-Bakoko road, the slaughter house, building of classrooms, grading of earth roads in the municipality as well as improving the market at Mile Two.

In his remark, Nafongo Vincent, the First Assistant SDO for Fako, sitting in for the SDO, Zang III, told the mayor and the entire deliberating board that 85% realisation rate is quite positive but that when it is considered that most of the revenue was external, “then one can only say that you still have a long way to go” and noted that recovery from state and other external sources is good since it is the bench mark of decentralization policy but insisted that such recoveries should rather come to complement what the council already has so that the percentage set aside for the community will be heavier for the general good of the population.