By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi in Buea
Presiding over the launching of the state budget for the South West in Buea last Tuesday, January 16, the representative of the Minister of Finance; Head of Mission to the South West, Bernard Njoh Niba who intimated the various stakeholders on the need to respect procedures in the execution of the budget.
As regards to exceptional procedures which he says was part of the Minister’s message during the national launching which took place in Maroua. “There are wars at the international level, crisis at the local level, internal debt which must be maintained and control of inflationary policies. So the message of the minister is discipline of stakeholders who are involved in the execution of the budget, respect for procedures and increase in the mobilization of revenue. We should avoid exceptional procedures during normal execution”.
He called on all stakeholders in the South West region to be proactive and have a collaborative spirit which to him will help them find developmental long-lasting solutions to the numerous problems faced by the inhabitants of the SWR.
Some key projects to be executed in the South West Region as per the 2024 state budget include work on the Kumba-Ekondo-Titi road, significant investments in water utilities, improvement in health sectors as well as a push up in the Presidential Plan for Reconstruction and Development (PPRD) of the NW and SW regions of Cameroon.
These, among many other projects to be executed in 2024 were revealed at the esplanade of the Buea Council on Tuesday, January 16 2024 during the launch of the budget of the state and other public entities for the 2024 fiscal year in the SWR.
The 2024 budget for the South West region is balanced both in investment and recurrent expenditure to the tune of FCFA 22 Billion, 476 Million, and 590 thousand.
The Governor of the South West region, Bernard Okalia Bilai during his intervention revealed that the 2024 state budget has witnessed a decline of about FCFA 3 Billion from close to FCFA 25 Billion the region operated on during the 2023 fiscal year. “The execution of the 2023 budget stood at 96.3% as against 97.4% in 2022 with recurrent expenditures at 98.10& and investment at 96.34%. The high execution rate according to Governor Okalia Bilai is a demonstration of interest by stakeholders in the execution of the budget in the region to develop it and improve the welfare of its denizens. He equally revealed that the close FCFA .5 Billion budgeted for the 2024 fiscal year includes over FCFA 13 Billion for investment and FCFA 9.6 Billion for recurrent expenditure.
Despite the decrease in the budget as compared to that of last year, the governor assured the population that the deficit will be made up by investments projected by the government and its partners through the Presidential Plan for Reconstruction of the NW and SWR (PPRD-NW/SW).
The Head of Mission, Njoh Niba Bernard noted that the budget this year was perceptible given the context of the country. He enjoined the population to join efforts in ensuring that resources budgeted are being utilized so that the economic potential of the region is fully exploited. “The resources must be produced locally through economic activities, taxation, customs, tourism, hotels and other activities to finance our budget. The SWR has great economic potential and we must exploit it to produce the necessary income to execute our budget” he averred.
The governor of the region equally challenged the population to shun separatists-imposed ghost towns and tax evasion to ensure that the region attains its 2024 budget set by the government. “Those who advocate for ghost towns want to kill the economy of the SWR and retard its development but we must stop it because it is in the interest of our region that it is stopped. We cannot execute this budget if we are maneuvering not to pay taxes” he stated.
He urged stakeholders to prioritize the collective interest over individual interest and beckoned on them to restrict unplanned expenditure and commit to respecting budgetary allocations.