German support to empower Cameroon decentralisation- Ambassador

The German Ambassador to Cameroon, Dr Klaus-Ludwig Keferstein, has disclosed that the recent FCFA 10 billion aide to Cameroon is to support the Government adopt the kind of decentralisation that Germans have been enjoying. “The FCFA 10 billion is to support the Government’s efforts towards decentralisation; to give more competences and resources to the citizens so that they can run their own affairs better than before,” Ambassador Klaus said.

“Germany has a strong tradition of Federal Government. We have Federal States and we know the value of a Decentralised Government. So, we are supporting the Cameroon Government to go in the same direction,” he maintained. The German Ambassador was speaking to the press, April 18, in Limbe where he was with a delegation of some four German MPs and some other officials who had come to visit the Limbe Wildlife Centre.

The FCFA 10 billion aide to Cameroon has come at a time when the process of decentralisation has been criticised in some quarters as being excessively too slow. The Law on Decentralisation was signed since 2004 but the process of effectively handing powers to the local councils to be able to run their affairs without so much dependence on the central Government in Yaounde has been painfully slow. Till date, many councils still depend on the central Government’s council support fund, FEICOM, for subventions to carryout most local projects.

Besides, the German Ambassador said their visit to Limbe was also to enable the MPs have a view of how Cameroon was doing in the area of wildlife protection and the environment. This, he said, when they get back to Germany, they can influence policy makers to see what they can do to assist Cameroon in this area. Ambassador Klaus was led to the Limbe Wildlife Centre by the Secretary General in the Southwest Governor’s Office, Clement Fon Ndikum and the SDO of Fako, Zang III.

They were received at the Wildlife Centre by Dr John Anyam Kiyang; a veterinarian who showed them round the Limbe facility. The Centre, he said, harbours more than 250 animals with the oldest of them being a female chimp said to be aged 38. “Chimps can live for up to 65 years,” Dr Kiyang said.