By NOELA EBOB BISONG
The Minister of decentralisation and local development, in an Information Note made public last March 16, 2020 has caused some recently elected council officials to lose sleep, as they weigh their legibility into their new offices.
Drawing weight from The General Code of Regional and Local Authorities enacted on December 24 2019, the Note focuses on the implementation of the legal provisions relating to incompatibilities, obligation of residency, automatic secondment of State employees and suspension of employment contracts of employees in the public, semi-public and private sectors elected as council executives.
According to Minister Georges Elanga Obam, the strict implementation of the outlined measures shall enhance the much-desired autonomy and promotion of sound, effective and responsible management of local authorities “which are the nursery of the nation’s emergence.”
He highlights in the note that the Code requires local elected officials, in particular the members of executive organs of councils and city councils, to serve and be committed to their functions by devoting their time to the full exercise of their mandate.
“As such, any State or local authority employee elected mayor or deputy mayor is automatically placed on secondment in the council or city council.”
The Note further spells out that “Similarly, the employment contract of a State employee governed by the Labour Code or a private sector employee elected to the above-mentioned posts is suspended for the duration of the term of office. That means the person concerned may not, during this period, combine their council executive office and pay with any other salary or allowance in the civil service. This provision is enforceable immediately after establishment of the election and cannot be waived.”
The justifications, as highlighted by the Minister’s information note states that “The provision of deputy mayors being obliged to serve and be devoted to their duties, in any case, is part of the endeavour to increase their involvement in the management of local affairs, as they must, within the framework of express delegation of authority, be entrusted with specific matters or responsibility for a programme.”
Regarding the suspension of contract provided for by the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities, according to Minister Elanga Obam is a “safeguard provision, which is also in conformity with the Labour Code, since the employees concerned may, if they wish, return to their jobs after the term of office.”
The Code further imposes on local elected officials who are members of the executive organ an obligation of residency, which is the obligation to effectively reside in the area of jurisdiction of the local authority and the obligation to perform the duties of local elected official on the premises and in the area of jurisdiction of the local authority. “Through this requirement, the Code seeks to place at the helm of councils, devoted men and women committed to serving the population and their community. This obligation is accompanied by sanctions ranging from suspension of pay or duties to dismissal of members of the council executive after a formal notice remains unheeded.”
As outlined by the Code, individuals like: member of government and persons ranking as such, member of the National Assembly and senator, administrative authority, ambassador or official in a diplomatic mission, court president, director-general or director of a public establishment or State-owned company, ministry secretary-general and person ranking as such, central administration director, president of a regional executive council, member of the forces of law and order, staff or employee of the council concerned, staff of financial services having access to the finance or accounts of the council concerned, are persons ineligible for the post of mayor.
As elected municipal officials await their installations in the days ahead, uncertainty looms, for many are caught in the web of the Minister’s prescriptions. However, pundits opine that the law should have been clear at the time of compilation prior to the elections instead of coming at a time when officials are impatiently waiting to get into their new offices. What remain certain is the “difficult” choices some council executives shall be making in the days ahead.