From Samba Tata in Nkambe
In late March of this year, the governor of the North
West region undertook a tour of Donga Mantung division. It was dubbed “an
economic tour”. An exploitation tour was
a more apt description.
According to official sources then, the governor was
to be accompanied by at least 40 specialists and decision-makers whose
contributions would presumably improve the lives of the people of that
division. The delegation and convoy was impressive; all riding in gas guzzling
SUVs. The security detail was presidential when compared to other countries.
Donga Mantung as we all know has been Balkanized (or
if you prefer decentralized) for ease of exploitation into five subdivisions
namely: Nkambe Central, Ndu, Nwa, Misajie and Ako. Arguably, these are some of
the most marginalized or impoverished political subdivisions with hardly a tax
or income generating base. All of them are tittering on the brink of
bankruptcy. Some, as of late March, had not paid their staff that live from pay
check to pay check, in over three months.
Yet for the governor’s
tour they were tasked to come up with 8.5 million francs CFA purportedly to pay
for transport for the governor and his entourage. The break down was as
follows: Nkambe and Ndu the big boys had
to come up with 2million francs each and the other three were saddled with 1.5
million each. So from the financially
pressed councils, the governor (the man with the unusual name) and his
entourage pocketed 8.5 million for the inconvenience of traveling through the
dusty roads of Donga Mantung.
The take-away in many societies would be considered
criminal and felonious. But in Cameroon, it is routine business. The councils were robbed of money that would
have been used to provide basic services to its citizens. This was in addition
to entertainment which by Cameroon standards includes veritable feasting. I am
not concerned with what the divisional delegates and the other government
functionaries came up with to keep their jobs. In part because they in turn
saddled their staff and in part many of them can afford it.
Let’s not forget the Mbororos or Fulanis who had to
come up with additional contributions in form of cattle and goats. A day or so
after the governor left, I was waiting for a bus to Bamenda and behold right in front of the bus stop was an ELECAM
employee (you can’t miss them from their fancy badges) tethering six (well fed)
goats . I was wondering what an ELECAM employee was doing with goats so early
in the morning! On investigation and as I had been imagining, it turned out
that the goats were donated to the governor by impoverished Donga Mantung
farmers.
Corruption at the local level is so egregious that
government paid (by extension taxpayers) officials refuse to perform duties
unless there is something in for them. For example, the SDO or district officers
do not undertake visits to villages unless the villagers pay for their
transportation. And even when they do, there still demand other perks such as
goats or cattle and the usual entertainment of food and drinks.
These officials would not be so reckless in their
demands if they were indigenes or better still elected by the people. At the
moment we thrive on a system of exploitation. The natives are resigned to this
situation and have been conditioned to believe, erroneously that it is part of
doing business. They believe and know that the situation cannot be changed
since the corrupt practices emanate from the (very) top. The expectations of public servants going to
the division are that at the end of their tour, they will be materially better
off. It is the land of opportunity especially for owning precious cattle.
What has materially changed to enhance the lives of
the people of Donga Mantung since the governor’s visit? I dare say hardly
anything. If anything, the councils have been left in a financial quandary. I
just hope the councils have managed to pay their staff.
For the past decade or so, the Cameroon government has
been wrestling with the concept and implementation of decentralization. Charged with implementing this is the most
centralized and bureaucratic ministry. It would have been cheaper to just visit
neighbouring Nigeria to learn and see how it is implemented especially at the
local level. So far the most successful aspect of decentralization has been the
decentralization of corruption.
It is so entrenched in the culture and way of doing
business at the local level that development projects are held hostage. And so
we read, see and wonder why the abysmal execution of public projects.
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