CAMEROON

Cameroon is a decentralised unitary State. The president of the Republic is the head of state. The president is elected by universal, direct, equal and confidential vote by a majority of votes cast for a renewable seven-year term. Legislative power is exercised by a two-chamber parliament, consisting of the National Assembly and, since 2013, the Senate. The National Assembly is composed of 180 deputies elected by direct and anonymous universal suffrage for a renewable five-year term. The Senate represents the Decentralised Local and Regional Authorities (DLRAs). It is composed of 100 senators, 70 of whom are elected indirectly by the municipal councillors of the 360 communes on a regional basis (i.e., seven elected for each of the ten regions). The remaining 30 senators are appointed by the president of the Republic (three senators per region). The senators' term of office is five years, renewable.

The idea of decentralisation in Cameroon dates back to the time of the Franco-British mandate. In Western Cameroon, under British administration, in June 1923 the “Cameroon’s order in council” divided the territory into Northern Cameroon, administratively attached to Nigeria, and Southern Cameroon, grouping together the current regions of the North-West and South-West. In East Cameroon, under French administration, the process of municipalisation began with the creation of mixed urban communes by the governor’s order of 25 June 1941. Their jurisdiction is limited to the Wouri region for Douala and the urban area of Yaoundé. The executive is the head of the region, called the administrator-mayor.

Until it was included in constitutional law, thanks to the major reform of 18 January 1996, subnational decentralisation in Cameroon was essentially based on Law 74/23 of 5 December 1974, which was refined and adapted by several subsequent texts. This constitutional reform transformed the commune structure by adding regions to the communes, which were the only decentralised subnational authorities until then, and which have been in place since 2020.

Law 2019/024 of 24 December 2019 on the Cameroonian Law for Decentralised Local and Regional Authorities came about following the Grand National Dialogue held in Yaoundé from 30 September to 4 October 2019. This law defines the general framework of subnational decentralisation; the status of local elected officials; the rules of organisation and operation of subnational governments; the specific regime applicable to certain subnational governments and the financial system of subnational governments. It sets the general framework for decentralisation by reinforcing the principles relating to the guarantee of the free administration and functional autonomy of the Decentralised Local and Regional Authorities.

The presidential decree of 24 August 2002 reorganising the government transformed the Ministry of Subnational Administration (MINAT or Ministère de l’Administration Territoriale) into the Ministry of Subnational Administration and Decentralisation (MINATD or Ministère de l’Administration Territoriale et de la Décentralisation). Since the adoption of the New Urban Agenda (2016), the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has laid the foundations for a national urban policy. Both ministries are involved in regulating and supervising the organisation and operation of local and subnational governments. Under the authority of MINATD, the National Decentralisation Council and the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Local Services are consultative bodies responsible for the monitoring and implementation of public decentralisation policies. The Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development (MINDDEVEL or Ministère de la Décentralisation et du Développement Local) was created by Presidential Decree 2018/190 of 2 March 2018, amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree 2011/408 of 9 December 2011 on the organisation of the government. This ministry is now responsible for the development, monitoring, implementation and evaluation of the government's decentralisation policy and the promotion of local development. MINAT, which is no longer responsible for decentralisation, has reverted to its pre-2002 name and remains responsible for the subsequent supervision of DLRAs through the prefects.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION
MUNICIPAL LEVEL	INTERMEDIATE LEVEL	REGIONAL LEVEL	TOTAL NUMBER OF SNGs (2020)
Communes	Urban communities / “Cities of...”	Regions
Average municipal size: 73 738 inhabitants
360	14	10	384

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: The territory of the Republic of Cameroon is organised into constituencies or administrative units. The deconcentrated administrative structure of the State is similar to the structure of subnational governments: 10 regions and 360 communes which correspond to the 10 regions and 360 districts placed respectively under the authority of governors and sub-prefects. In addition to the administrative organisation, there are 58 departments under the authority of prefects.

REGIONAL LEVEL: There are 10 regions. Their creation, changes to their names and boundaries are carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 61 of the Constitution. The regional council is the governing body of regions. It is made up of 90 regional councillors who have five-year terms of office. Following the regional elections of 6 December 2020, the regional executive bodies and offices were elected and the first administrative managers (secretaries general of the regional councils, regional receivers and financial controllers) were appointed to support the teams in place. One major innovation in Law 2019/024 of 24 December 2019 on the General Code of Decentralised Local and Regional Authorities is the creation of a special status for English-speaking regions. A special legal framework gives the two regions of the North West and South West specific powers, including participation in the development of national public policies relating to the Anglophone education and justice sub-system, in accordance with the Common Law sub-system, the creation and management of regional development missions, and the status of traditional chieftaincy. Finally, in these two regions, which have been experiencing secessionist trends since 2016, the law provides for the institution of a “public independent conciliator”.

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL: An urban community is a territorial authority composed of at least two communes. Communes that make up the urban community are called district communes. The urban community takes the name “City of...”, immediately followed by the name of the agglomeration concerned. There are currently 14 urban communities. The urban community is responsible for all actions relating to the inter-communal area, major works and structuring projects. The urban community operates according to the rules applicable to the commune. The governing body of the urban community is the community council. The executive body of the urban community consists of the mayor and deputy mayors of the city. The community council is composed of the mayor of the district commune and other representatives designated within the district commune. Its members are called urban community councillors. The community council shall deliberate on all matters within its remit. Law 2019/024 of 24 December 2019 represents a break with the practice of appointing government delegates and establishes the election of city mayors. The city mayor is elected by a college made up of all the municipal councillors of the city’s district communes. It exercises the full range of municipal functions within the framework of the powers devolved to the urban community.

MUNICIPAL LEVEL: Communes are decentralised local authorities and legal entities under public law. They have legal personality and financial autonomy. They manage local affairs under the supervision of the State for the economic, social and cultural development of their populations. The municipal council is the governing body of the commune. It is made up of all the municipal councillors elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. The mayor and their deputies are elected for a five-year term by the municipal council and form the governing body of the commune. The number of councillors depends on the population size of each commune: less than 50 000 inhabitants: 25 councillors; from 50 000 to 100 000 inhabitants: 31 councillors; from 100 001 to 200 000 inhabitants: 35 councillors; from 200 001 to 300 000 inhabitants: 41 councillors; more than 300 000 inhabitants: 61 councillors. The council may form committees to work on issues of interest to the commune, whose members may be external to the council and must be convened during the first year of the council.

HORIZONTAL COOPERATION: Horizontal cooperation, also called inter-communal or decentralised cooperation, is understood as any partnership relationship between two or more subnational governments or their groups, with a view to achieving common objectives. It may be carried out between Cameroonian subnational authorities or between them and foreign subnational governments, under the conditions set by the laws and regulations in force and in compliance with the State’s international commitments. It takes the form of an agreement concluded freely between the subnational governments or their groups. Since 1996, there have been two umbrella organisations of communes at national level, the Association of Communes and Cities of Cameroon (ACVC or Association des communes et villes du Cameroun) and the Union of Cities and Communes of Cameroon (UCVC or Union des villes et communes du Cameroun).

On the basis of the 2004 decentralisation laws, many responsibilities for economic, health, social, educational, sporting and cultural development have been transferred to the communes and regions. The law on the General Code for Local and Regional Authorities of 2019, while maintaining the responsibilities transferred to both the communes and the regions, has broadened them, reinforcing the principle of subsidiarity. The principle of complementarity or concurrent use of powers transferred to the LRAs by the State has been abolished, with the LRAs now retaining exclusive rights to the powers transferred. From now on, the State may only intervene in the areas of transferred powers in the two cases provided for in Article 18: (i) a specific intervention within the scope of the harmonious development of the territory or in order to resolve an emergency situation; (ii) in the event of a failure by the LRA, duly noted by order of the minister in charge of subnational governments. Staff in the communes generally fall into two categories: civil servants and state employees on assignment or secondment; and the communes’ own staff. Municipal staff are currently governed by the various regulations relating to State personnel, in particular Decree 78-484 of 9 November 1978 on common provisions relating to State employees covered by the Cameroonian Labour Code. At present, there is no specific text determining the status of the territorial civil service. A deficit of this kind often leads to dysfunctional situations that are detrimental to local development. All municipal and community councils have the same responsibilities and powers.

Main responsibility sectors and sub-sectors
SECTORS AND SUB-SECTORS	Regional level	Intermediate level	Municipal level
1. General public services (administration)	Economic and infrastructure development, land use planning	Creation, maintenance and management of public cemeteries (shared).	Civil registration, management of public cemeteries and of the municipality’s social reintegration and relief facilities (shared)
2. Public order and safety	Firefighting, in particular bushfires; Development of specific regional plans for emergency response and risk prevention		Land use authorisations (construction, subdivision, demolition, etc.), actions to combat unsanitary conditions, pollution and nuisances.
3. Economic affairs/transport	Promotion of economic development related to small and medium-sized enterprises; Promotion of artisanal crafts; Promotion of the agricultural, pastoral and fisheries sectors; Support for the creation of regional economic centres; Promotion of tourism; Support for intercity transport and road maintenance		Promotion of economic development related to agriculture and fisheries; Development of local tourism and artisanal crafts; Construction and maintenance of equipment; Transport; Market facilities and slaughterhouses; Local trade fairs; Support to micro-projects; Storage or distribution of food products
4. Environmental protection	Management, protection and maintenance of regional protected natural areas and regional water management; Creation of woodland areas and regional nature parks; Implementation and monitoring of regional environmental action plans	Development of community action plans for the environment, particularly regarding the control of pollution and nuisances, and the protection of green spaces Creation, maintenance and management of green spaces, parks and community gardens; - Collection, removal and treatment of household waste; Creation, development, maintenance, operation and management of sewage, wastewater and rainwater facilities.	Maintenance of municipal roads and public spaces; Management of industrial and household waste; Reforestation and protection of municipal forests; Protection of groundwater; Promotion of parks and green spaces
5. Housing and community amenities	Land use planning; Support for urban development, including housing (shared)	Issuance of town planning certificates, subdivision permits, building permits and demolition permits; Coordination of urban energy, drinking water and telecommunications networks; Urban planning, master plans and schemes for coordinated development, urban renewal and land consolidation.	Development and monitoring of municipal land management policies and tools (urban planning documents, drinking water supply, electrification, wastewater disposal, etc.) (shared)
6. Health	Maintenance and operation of regional health centres; Development of preventive health plans; Provision of health services and medicines in accordance with national health policy	Monitoring and control of industrial waste management	Maintenance and operation of sanitary facilities; Hygiene control of local industries and local health services (creation and management of District Medical Centres)
7. Culture and leisure	Support for regional sports associations; Operation and maintenance of sports and socio-educational facilities; Promotion of regional sports events	Development of tourist sites in the commune	Promotion of sports and youth activities; Maintenance of municipal stadiums and sports facilities; Organisation of traditional cultural events, local orchestras, ballet and theatre companies; Creation and management of socio-cultural centres and public libraries; Support for sports and cultural associations
8. Education	Maintenance and operation of secondary schools and vocational training institutions (shared); Management of supplies and scholarships; Support for primary schools; Implementation of literacy plans (shared)		Maintenance and operation of nursery, pre-school and primary schools; Management and administration of secondary schools and vocational training institutions and programmes (shared); Implementation of plans to combat illiteracy (shared)
9. Social welfare			Operation and maintenance of local social welfare centres

Scope of fiscal data: No data available

SCN 1993

Availability of fiscal data: Low

Quality/reliability of fiscal data: Low

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: The funding of decentralisation is enshrined in the law on the General Code for Local and Regional Authorities. Article 11 of the General Code for Local and Regional Authorities states that “subnational governments have their own budgets and resources for the management of regional and local interests”. Article 12 of the same code specifies that “the resources necessary for subnational governments to exercise their responsibilities are devolved to them either by transfer of taxation, or by grants, or by both at the same time.”

The Special Fund for Equipment and Inter-Communal Intervention (FEICOM or Fonds spécial d'équipement et d'intervention intercommunale) is the body through which most of the revenue made available to the LRAs pass. Created by Law 74/23 of 5 December 1974 on the organisation of communes, it only became operational three years later with Decree 77/85 of 22 March 1977 setting out its operating and management procedures, in the form of an administrative directorate with legal personality and financial autonomy.

FEICOM has been reorganised several times. The first time was in 1996, with the creation of four regional agencies and the reinforcement of its financial power with the creation of an accounting agency separate from the Treasury. In December 2000, a decree established it as a directorate general and defined its specific missions: “mutual aid between the communes, in particular through solidarity contributions and cash advances; the financing of communal and inter-communal investment works; the centralisation and redistribution of additional communal levies; the coverage of costs relating to the training of commune staff and civil servants”. On 31 December 2002, the board of directors adopted a new organisational chart that provided each region with an agency and strengthened the structure with several new directorates. Since its third reorganisation in May 2006, this entity has been authorised to seek or receive revenue from international co-operation for the financing of local development.

In its strategic transformation, and in a context marked by the acceleration of the decentralisation process, the State has carried out a fourth reorganisation of FEICOM to broaden its sources of financing and to include the regional councils in its intervention scope, through Decree 2018/635 of 31 October 2018. This reform consolidates FEICOM as an equalisation and financing body aiming to contribute to the development of the LRAs, while at the same time bringing it closer to the public financial institutions. As the government’s main partner in the development of the LRAs, its greatest difficulty is related to the real-time mobilisation of financial resources in the Treasury’s Single Account.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

EXPENDITURE: Article 39 of the law on the financial status of the LRAs of 2009, reproduced in article 417 paragraph 1 of the Law on the General Code for Local and Regional Authorities, prescribes that the expenses for the staff of a local or regional authority shall not exceed 35% of its total operating expenses. These laws also state that a local or regional authority’s recurrent spending must not exceed 60% of its total spending, with at least 40% assigned to its capital spending. According to a FEICOM study, between 2012 and 2016 the average percentage of current spending of communes and urban communities at national level was 49.7%.

DIRECT INVESTMENT: According to data produced by FEICOM, between 2012 and 2016, the average per capita capital spending of LRAs rose steadily from CFAF 5 669 (~USD 23 PPP) in 2012 to CFAF 7 218 (~USD 30 PPP) in 2016, an increase of 27.3% over the period. More recent figures for the period 2016-2020, which are still fragmentary and not consolidated by FEICOM, nevertheless show that it has continued to increase after 2016. However, disparities in per capita investment spending are significant between regions, varying from a factor of 1 (for communes in the Far North region) to 4 (in the East).

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: Communes are largely dependent on revenue from local taxation and transfers. A Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment published in 2017, highlights that the heavy reliance on inter-governmental transfers and the fragmentation of revenue mobilisation, including the criteria for ad hoc allocation of revenue to communes, has led to considerable imbalances between subnational governments. In 2018, the National Decentralisation Council adopted a local development index to enable the State to improve the allocation of revenue to communes in priority areas, beyond the single criterion of population which had previously dominated the distribution of equalisation revenues.

TAX REVENUE: Tax revenue is made up of all the levies made by the State’s tax services or the relevant services of the Decentralised Local and Regional Authority for the benefit of the latter. These levies are referred to as “local taxes”. These local taxes are made up of commune taxes, additional commune centimes on state taxes and duties, commune duties and any other type of levy provided for by law.

Commune taxes are the revenues issued, collected and made available to the communes by the State’s tax services. These include the patents and licenses contribution, the withholding tax, the property tax on real estate, the tax on games of chance and entertainment, the real estate transfer tax, vehicle stamp duty and the forestry tax. Commune duties include local development tax, livestock slaughter tax, commune livestock tax, firearms tax, hygiene and sanitation tax, impoundment fees, market place fees, building or planning permit fees, temporary public road use fees, parking tax, parking fees, wharfage tickets, entertainment tax, stadium fees, advertising tax, communal stamp duty, road damage fee, communal transit or transhumance tax, tax on the transport of quarry products, parking fees and tax on salvaged products.

According to a FEICOM study published in 2021, over the period 2012-2016, tax revenue accounted for an average of 78.7% of the operating revenue of communes, ranging from 83.1% in the Far North Region to 71% in the South West Region. During the same period, the average tax revenue realisation rate was 58.1%, ranging from 43.2% for the Southern Region to 74.8% for the Northern Region. In absolute terms, the amount of tax revenue collected has increased steadily from one year to the next. In 2018, tax revenues were up by 4.7% compared to 2017.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES: Communes receive grants and subsidies from the State to carry out their duties. Financial assistance from the State includes budgetary allocations, in particular the General Decentralisation Grant (DGD or Dotation générale de la décentralisation) and transferred credits. The General Decentralisation Grant is indexed to a fraction of the State’s annual revenue set by law at a rate of at least 15%; it is currently the main source of funding for decentralisation in Cameroon.

The Law on Local Taxation also provides for equalisation revenues which are centralised and distributed to the communes by FEICOM. From 2011 to 2017, FEICOM centralised and transferred almost CFAF 496.5 billion (over USD 2 billion PPP) in equalisation revenues to communes and urban communities. The average annual growth rate of these revenues was around 4%, higher than the demographic growth rate of the Cameroonian population over the same period. Additionally, when distributing resources to subnational governments, a deduction of 4% of the total amount is made for border communes and those affected by disasters. These funds are made available by a decision of the Minister for Decentralisation, who determines the appropriateness of the funding.

In 2020, the share of the state budget transferred to the LRAs (all appropriations, grants and subsidies) amounted to 7.5%.

OTHER REVENUE: Other revenue includes income from public and private property in the commune and services, plus cash and financial resources (in particular from international and decentralised cooperation). Between 2012 and 2016, the average proportion of these other revenues in the operating revenues of communes and urban communities was 9.3%, ranging from 5.4% (Far North) to 11.9% (North West).

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

FISCAL RULES: Managers of subnational governments are subject to the 2018 law on the code of transparency and good governance in public finance management in Cameroon, and the 2018 law on the State’s financial system and other public entities. The submission of accounts applies to the authorising officers, the municipal or regional tax collector and the financial controller. In case of mismanagement, these officials are liable to financial and criminal sanctions, sometimes accompanied by a ban on performing the duties of authorising officer, credit manager or accountant in any public or semi-public service or body or in state-owned companies for a certain period of time. The Chamber of Auditors, which is the financial jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, can control and judge the accounts of the patent public accountants of the LRAs and give a final ruling on the decisions of the lower Courts of Auditors, declare and dismiss the actual management. The accounts of the patent public accountants must be submitted to the Chamber within three months of the end of the budgetary year. However, these procedures are not always followed, as shown by the rate at which the accounts are submitted to the Chamber by the LRAs: 41%.

In addition, the LRAs are required to balance their budgets (balance between expenditure and revenue within the operating and investment sections; fairness in the assessment of expenditure and revenue). Between 2012 and 2016, FEICOM found that less than a third of local or regional authorities complied with this requirement. A division specifically dedicated to auditing the LRAs within the Supreme State Audit Office (Service du Contrôle Supérieur de l’Etat) was recently created.

DEBT: According to the law on the financial status of the LRAs of 2009, which was incorporated into the law on the General Code for Local and Regional Authorities, communes are not allowed to borrow on the financial markets or from private financial institutions. However, communes often incur deficits and debts in the course of the financial year through the FEICOM, which acts as a financial intermediary to enable the commune councils to access loans for a maximum period of two years. In particular, the LRAs experience shortfalls in the payment of social benefits. In addition, there are outstanding debts to the Directorate General of Taxes or to delegated companies - for example, the Cameroon Hygiene and Sanitation Association (HYSACAM or Société Hygiène et Salubrité du Cameroun) for its household waste collection activities.

TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS: From the onset the crisis in March 2020, the central government implemented a prevention and response plan. This plan included the following main measures: the closure of Cameroon's land, air and sea borders; suspension of all passenger flights from abroad, with the exception of cargo flights and ships transporting essential goods and materials; closure of all public and private education and training establishments; prohibition of all gatherings of more than fifty people throughout the country; closure of drinking establishments, restaurants and places of entertainment from 6pm; introduction of a system to manage the movement of customers in markets and shopping centres; use of electronic communication and digital tools for meetings involving more than ten people by public administrations. In addition, the hygiene measures recommended by the World Health Organisation were implemented. Most of the measures taken by the government, under the co-ordination of the prime minister, have been gradually relaxed.

EMERGENCY MEASURES TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT: Within the scope of government measures, MINDDEVEL invited communes and urban communities to take measures concerning the condition of markets, the organisation of transport and the amplification of government communication (Circular Letter 000692/LC/MINDDEVEL of 25 March 2020 relating to measures to be taken by communes and urban communities in the context of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic). In line with these recommendations, mayors have put distancing rules in place for markets, ensured that opening and closing times are respected, carried out systematic disinfection and forbidden informal markets. Measures have been taken to regulate and reorganise transport (in particular bus stations). Mayors were also required to promote the government-run awareness campaigns.

In addition, the National Social Security Fund (CNPS or Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale) provided payment facilities to communes and urban communities: part of the debt has been paid in instalments for 192 of them and grace periods have been granted for late payment increases and penalties, which have benefited the crisis regions of the North West, South West and Far North in particular.

IMPACTS OF THE CRISIS ON SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: Like many other countries, Cameroon has been affected by the direct disruption of global supply chains, the decline in domestic demand for imported goods and services, the virtual halt in tourism and the decline in business and consumer confidence. Employment has been affected by the decline in consumption and production. LRAs have been affected by the economic impact of the health crisis and have experienced increased difficulties in meeting their financial commitments.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STIMULUS PLANS: To revive the economy, which entered a recession in 2020 (-2.6%), the Cameroonian government has drawn up a three-year plan (2021-2023) totalling CFAF 871 billion (~USD 3.8 billion PPP). Annexed to the 2021 Finance Act, the document entitled “Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan” aims in particular to provide support to the branches of activity strongly impacted by the crisis and to those capable of promoting a rapid recovery of the manufacturing sector. The measures planned are part of the national import-substitution policy and the policy of promoting national preference to strengthen the resilience of the local economic structure to external shocks. The aim is to “bring economic growth in line with the Vision 2035 reference rate”, with the objective of achieving an average annual growth rate of 4.7% between 2020-2022, 7.7% between 2023-2025 and 9.3% between 2026-2030. The core of the plan is made up of nearly 80 actions grouped into four areas: (i) support for the manufacture and processing of consumer products; (ii) business financing; (iii) growth sectors; (iv) business competitiveness.