Abstract

This study is based on the “Decentralisation and National Development Strategy in Cameroon”: The aim of the study is to check the extent to which decentralization law has been applied in Cameroon in general. To check the population reaction to this law, bring out the problems encountered in implementing this law.

The study found out that decentralization policy left the people unsatisfied as they preferred a centralized state to decentralized state through their opinion seen in the result of findings. It was thus recommended that government has to transfer all the competencies and powers which it still holds to councils and train the local authority.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION.

1.1. Background of the Study

One way of organizing a state, in order to provide services in a more equitable manner to individuals living in far-flanged areas is through decentralization. Political decentralization is one of the most widespread policy reforms in the world today.

Nearly every country in the world, regardless of its rulers‟ desire, geographic location, history, levels of economic development and cultural tradition, is now experimenting with new form of regional and local governance .

Similarly, an increasing number of countries are  decentralising the administrative, fiscal, and political functions of the central government to lower level of governments (Fessha and Kirkby 2008). In 1999 the World Bank estimated that decentralisation was happening in 80-100 percent of the world‟s countries. Decentralisation refers to the transfer of powers from a central government to lower levels in a political – administrative and territorial hierarchy (Agarwal and Ribot 1999). Ink and Dean (1970) showed that decentralisation was a process that enhanced participation in government at the grassroots level.

In general, hitherto centralised governments have initiated a reform agenda with the aim of transferring some powers, tasks and resources to regional governments and local authorities. Cameroon is one of these countries.

Cameroon experienced different forms of decentralisation before the 1990s. Decentralisation in its current form here is based notably on the Constitution embodied in Law No. 96/06 of 18 January 1996. On the strength of the provisions of article 55 of the said constitution, “decentralised local entities of the Republic shall be regions and councils … decentralised local authorities shall be legal entities recognised by public law.

They shall enjoy administrative and financial autonomy in the management of local interests. They shall be freely administered by boards elected in accordance with conditions laid down by law”. In Cameroon therefore, decentralisation constitutes part of the framework of national policy on democratisation that started in the 1990s.

According to Kumera (2006:1), decentralised form of governance is gaining currency as a strategy for political and economic development in developing countries. With changes in development theories and policy prescriptions, there has been a significant shift from mechanistic and top-down models towards more dynamic, bottom up and participatory approaches through different reform measures including decentralisation.

The issue of centralisation – decentralisation and center-periphery resource distribution are frequent administration and political concerns which can have very profound consequences for the stability of society (Rosenbaum, 1997:529).

One of the factors that led to adopting decentralisation has been the realisation of the difficulty to manage countries political, social and economic activities only from the center. The center has increasingly proved to possess neither the capacity nor the time to deal with all issues surrounding service and local development, which could be better handled at the local level. Therefore, most countries and Cameroon in particular are experiencing some form of decentralisation characterised by both differing and similar objectives. Among these objectives devolution is one of the motives that propel the drive towards a decentralised governance system (Kumera, 2007:103).

Decentralisation is an ongoing phenomenon for Political and economic development in third world countries as a result of globalization. Globalization refers to an increasing interaction across national boundaries that affect many aspects of life: economic, social, cultural and political (Scherer & Palazzo, 2008).

Bardhan (2002) noted that as many countries aim for globalization, decentralization offers a way to have effective and efficient governance as well as adequate economic growth. To Bardhan, decentralization was essentially about balancing participation and representation to enhance development, which was a focal point for this research.

Decentralization is one of the ways to improve the performance of the government in addressing the needs of the nation, especially in rural communities. This could seen in it effectiveness as it is stipulated in the National Development stratergy.

Decentralisation has become a recurring theme in political and administrative discourse   for advocates of administrative reform everywhere in the world(Asibuo S.K 1991: 45).  Decentralisation is probably the most frequently recommended structural reform to Third World Countries because “it suggests the hope of cracking open the blockage in an inert central bureaucracy, curing managerial constipation, giving more direct access for people to the government and the government to the people, stimulating the whole nation to participate in national development” (Philip Mawhood, 1983:1).

The popularity of the concept of decentralisation in development administration and the debates it has generated could be attributed to the linking of decentralisation with such benefits as equity, effectiveness, responsiveness and efficiency (Ayee J.R.A 1992: 49).  Some benefits of decentralisation have been stated by Rondinelli:

“As societies, economies and government become more complex central control and decision-making become more difficult, costly and inefficient.  By reducing diseconomies of scale inherent in the over-concentration of decision-making in the national capital, decentralisation can increase the number of public goods and services – and the efficiency with which they are delivered – at lower cost” (Rondinelli 1981: 18).

Despite the benefits that decentralisation is said to be capable of bringing about, attempts at decentralisation in the developing world, including Cameroon, have brought no marked improvement in development drives (Ahwoi 1990: 15).  Policy-makers and development administrators in the Third World, continue to express dissatisfaction with the way decentralisation policies have been implemented.

In most cases, central government introduced heavily publicised decentralisation policies only to see them falter during implementation process.

Studies further reveal a kind of double-mindedness in developing countries about the desirability of transferring powers and responsibilities from the central ministries to other organisations.  While local administrative organisations were given broad powers in some countries to perform development planning and management functions, adequate financial resources and qualified personnel necessary to carry out these functions were often withheld (Cheema & Rondinelli 1983:  297).

Field offices of central ministries, district planning and administrative units were established in most countries in the developing countries, but central government officials had been reluctant or lacked the political will to assist them.  In their desire to minimize political conflicts and secessionist agitations, central governments discouraged the growth of community and non-governmental involvement in decentralisation policies (Cheema & Rondinelli 1983: 297).

Consequently development planning and administration had remained highly centralised after decades of persistent attempts at decentralisation.  In some cases, authority was delegated without giving local organisations the flexibility to perform new functions in the ways that met local demands and needs.

In developing administration in the Third World, performance and impact have not often matched the goals of their decentralisation policies, while control over financial resources continues to suffer severe shortages in qualified personnel.  Local organisations have thus been largely incapacitated in their development efforts and exist merely to extend centrally-controlled and established priorities and are seen as solicitors of support for national policies (Cheema G.S. & Rondinelli 1983: 297).

From independence until 1986, development planning in Cameroon was carried out through fiveyear plans. Six plans were developed over this period; the first five were implemented but the sixth was interrupted due to the economic crisis of the mid1980s, which lasted for more than a decade.

Following the wind of structural adjustments and within the framework of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, the Government produced a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in 2003. The attainment of the HIPC completion point and the unsatisfactory results on poverty, following the third Cameroonian household survey (ECAM) in 2007, led to the revision of the PRSP . Thus, a 25-year development Vision was adopted in 2009, with the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP) as the instrument for implementing the first phase of this Vision that concerned the 2010-2019 period

Since the GESP has come to an end, the NDS30 is the new reference framework for the 2020-2030 period. This periodicity was chosen not only to better align the strategy with the global agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals but also to stabilize planning timelines and include the delays recorded in the implementation of the GESP .one of the major aspect of the national development strategy was the implementation of decentralization.

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