CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Over the years, the concept of local autonomy has always been related to the general idea of
decentralization. Most countries around the world with different aspects of life in line with
population, wealth, natural resources, geographical diversity, as well as culture, language,
history, ethnicity, and religion, within their borders have been more concerned with various ways
of achieving development. With the desire to establish a reasonable and acceptable governance
for each part of the country that can deliver better services to every level of the government
Cheka (2007), there has been search for a better form of government. Decentralization is the
most popular mechanism in this context. Institutional reform in African countries in recent years
has been marked by trials of various forms of decentralization. Most states venture
decentralization with the primary aim of bringing the government closer to the people, and
making them more active in the process of development in various ways.
Local government in Cameroon is a product of decentralization and is established by law. The
policy of decentralization is meant to guarantee the autonomy of local government, which is
required to operate within its area of jurisdiction and any action to the contrary is null and void to
the extent of its inconsistency with the law. The emergence of decentralized entities in Cameroon
can be traced far back to the colonial era where by the British through the policy of indirect rule
created territorial collectivities in its British Southern Cameroon, principally in 1922 called the
native courts. These native courts where replaced with native authorities in 1932 and in 1958; the
native authorities were replaced with native councils. In French Cameroon, the French colonial
masters through a decree of 23 April 1941 made a regime for councils. In 1951 the first mix
urban council was created in Yaoundé and Douala. In 1955 a law of 18 November dealing with
the organization of councils authorized the creation of two types of council in black French
speaking Africa called commune de plein exercise and commune de moyen exercise. Thesecouncils were created in Douala, Yaoundé, Nkongsamba etc. It was not until 1960, where four
types of councils in French Cameroon called mix urban council; rural mix council, councils of
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full capacity and council of half capacity were instituted. After independence of the French and
British Cameroon in 1960/1961, the federal government maintained the systems of local
government put in place by the colonial masters in Southern Cameroon and East Cameroon. The
1974 laws provide for three categories of councils or local government authorities- Rural
councils for rural areas, Urban councils for urban and semi-urban areas (article 2), and
delegations (article 172-177), for the cities. After 1974, Cameroon harmonized these councils
instituted by the colonial masters in to just two types of councils called the rural councils and the
urban councils. This codification or harmonization was done by law No114/23 of 5th December
1974 dealing with the organization of councils. The organization and functioning of municipal
councils in Cameroon today are regulated by law no 2019/024 of 24th December 2019 instituting
the general code of regional and local authorities in Cameroon which amended law No 2004/017
of 22 July 2004 dealing with the orientation of decentralization. The councils are headed by the
municipal executives i.e. the lord mayor and assistant mayors who are elected by councilors
during the first session. Regional councils and municipal councils as provided by in article 55
and 56 of the 1996 Constitution and the 2019 General Code on regional and local authorities also fall under decentralized collectivities.
The contributions of local government in enhancing the decentralization process in Cameroon
through its administrative and financial autonomy seem to be an illusion than a reality. This is
because the latter play only very subsidiary role in decision making even though these entities
are said to have financial and administrative autonomy. It is no doubt that the autonomy of local
governments or decentralized entities have gone through a lot of challenges since the central
authority relegate these authorities to the background and intervenes in all financial domains. But
nevertheless, the escalation of the socio-political crisis in the North West and South west regions
since 2016 has pushed the central administration to facilitate the decentralization process in the
country. This commitment was clearly seen in Cameroon in 2017 in a presidential decree
creating a separate ministry in charge of decentralization, the major national dialogue which was
held in 2019 in Yaounde and most importantly the putting in place of law No. 2019/024 of 24
December 2019 instituting the General Code of Regional and local authorities in Cameroon. This
law laid down rules applicable to local authorities. In its Section 17, it states that “The State shall
devolve to local authorities the powers necessary for their economic, social, health, educational,
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cultural and sports development”. Also, the Section 18:(1) Local authorities shall exclusively
exercise the powers devolved by the State. Decentralization has been seen at the level of discussions geared towards making the state more
efficient, with the aim of reducing the size of the central administration; the transfer of some
powers from the central government to the local levels; as well as the need to manage conflicts
stemming from ethnicity and/or geographical location. The state of decentralization is perceived
as the institutional and financial means through which regional and local governments operate to
foster local development and governance with the active involvement of the population. With the
idea of decentralization, emphasis is laid on the autonomy given to local authorities (regional
councils and municipal councils) in the management of their own affairs. However, the
achievement of the decentralization remains subject to the legal plan to the respect of three
essential conditions: the existence of specific skills for the benefits of local communities, the
taking in charge of local affairs by authorities at the base, independent of the central power both
by their mode of designation and the evaluation for their actions as for their revocation.
Decentralization constitutes part of the framework of national policy on democratization that
started in the 1990s (Cheka 2007). The pace of the process of decentralization in a given context
unavoidably, depending on the degree of favourableness of the legal environment and the
dynamism of stakeholders (especially of local entities, the state, development cooperation
partners and civil society). It is however clear nowadays that decentralization is not an easy or
necessarily a straightforward process. To this effect, decentralization must be more than a
reshuffling of administrative structures or a statement of political intent in order for it to be able
to deliver on its potential. The reform agenda for decentralization takes into account various
elements like the careful matching of responsibilities and revenues, participatory local
governance, accountable and legitimate local government entities, and a well-formed definition
of the value of local governance in the overall national development process.
Before the 1960s, Cameroon had experienced different forms of decentralization. During thecolonial period, the administrative system within the dual English and French administration in
Cameroon had evolved. The harmonization of both systems in 1974 following the re-unification
of both West and East Cameroons according to the 20th May 1972 Constitutional reforms,
constituting a major mile stone in the status of local government in Cameroon. It was at this
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moment that local councils were defined as “decentralized local governments”. The 1974 law
annulled about 12 texts governing councils: classifying councils into two types, notably Urban
councils and Rural councils.
The Cameroon constitution of 1996 later on made Cameroon a unitary state, recognizing the
existence of local communities and urged for the maintenance of peace and unity within the
country. Law No. 96/06 of 18 January 1996 embodies decentralization in its current form.
According to article 55 of the 1996 constitution, decentralized local entities of the Republic shall
be regions and councils while decentralized local authorities shall be legal entities recognized by
public law. They shall take control over the financial and administrative autonomy in the
management of local affairs. These local entities shall be freely administered by boards elected
in accordance with conditions laid down by the law. However, decentralization in Cameroon
makes up part of national policy on decentralization which has been in existence since the 1990s.A good number of legal text have later on been put in place in order to help throw more light on
the major objectives assigned to decentralization and territorial communities in the promotion of
development at the local level. With the 1996 constitution, a decentralized unitary state was
created with three related views, promulgated into the 2004 laws on decentralization. These laws
have redefined the relationship between the central government and the local authority in the
matters of public policy. The president of the republic can however create the geographical
boundaries of any given local authority and this can only be possible through a presidential
decree. In line with this, a common decentralization fund was created (Article 23(1), Orientation
Law). In attempt to evaluate this concept of decentralization process in Cameroon, a national
decentralization council alongside inter-ministerial committee of local services has been put in
place (Article 79, Orientation Law). Such laws mostly focus on local development and
governance and create room for the implementation of rules on decentralization in Cameroon.
1.2. Research Problem
Until very recently, the attitude towards development in Cameroon has followed the pattern best
described as top-bottom approach. With the centralized system of government, the right to
decisions about development rested only in the hands of the central government at the helm of
which is the Head of State. The problem with this approach is that decisions or policies made at he top (central government) hardly reflects the realities of those at the bottom (local authorities).
Therefore, the introduction of decentralization is a welcomed initiative since the local
communities will be given the opportunity to make their own policies that will reflect their own
realities. In order for development to be meaningful, people will have to learn how to make
proposals that can work for them.
Also, the contribution of local government in the enhancement of the decentralization process in
Cameroon has proven to be very challenging since these authorities are given limited
administrative and financial autonomy. This problem is very evident in Cameroon because the
central administration in Yaounde intervenes at the local levels. The central government
intervenes at the level of regional councils by appointing secretary generals in all the ten
Regional councils in the country and the regional authorities lack financial and administrative
autonomy because the central administration still set up regulatory organs like Centre d`Etudes
Franco-Americain de Management in French or Franco-American center for Management
studies in English (CEFAM).
1.3. Research Questions
1.4.1) Main Research Question
To what extent has decentralization affected the autonomy of local government in Cameroon?
1.3.2. Specific Research Questions
How as decentralization affected the financial autonomy of the Bamenda III municipality?
How has decentralization affected the administrative autonomy of the Bamenda III municipality?
How has decentralization affected te political autonomy of the Bamenda III municipality?
What are the factors that have hindered decentralization from ensuring effective local government autonomy?
1.4. Objectives of Study
This work shall be guided by the following objectives
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1.4.1. Main Research Objective
To examine the extent to which decentralization has affected the autonomy of local government
in Cameroon
1.4.2. Specific Research Objective
To examine the extent to which decentralization has affected the financial autonomy of the
Bamenda III municipality.
To examine the extent to which decentralization policy has affected the administrative autonomy
of the Bamenda III municipality.
To examine the extent to which decentralization has affected the political autonomy of the
Bamenda III municipality.

To ascertain the factors that has hindered decentralization from ensuring effective local
government autonomy