Introduction

The consecration of the principle of separation of the authorizing officer and the accountant in Cameroon refers to the legal recognition and institutionalization of this principle within the country’s public finance management system. The consecration of this principle was an important step towards the promotion of good governance and transparency in the execution of the state budget by the designated actors. On the legal aspect; several laws have been adopted in order to implement the principle of separation of the authorizing officer and the accountant in public finance in Cameroon and the contribution made by several institutions in order to implement this principle.

SECTION ONE: THE LEGAL CONSECRETION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION IN PUBLIC FINANCE

The principle of separation of the authorizing officer and the accountant was instituted in France, by the decrees of 1882, 1838, and the imperial decree of 1862^[1]. The principle was consecrated in Cameroon first from the ordinance of February 7 1962 in its article 67^[2]. This law was reaffirmed several times particularly in the 2007 law^[3] and the 2018 law^[4] both on the financial regime of the state. At the local level by the 2009 law^[5]. And finally the 2019 which reaffirms to this effect that “The functions of authorizing officers and those of public accountants are and remain separate both with regards to the execution of revenue and expenditure”^[6].

In Cameroon the consecration of public finance is essentially enshrined in the constitution, in laws and in regulations. It should be noted that according to the hierarchical norms the constitution is where all other laws take their origin. In that regard it will be necessary to examine the provision of public finance as per the constitution before looking at other laws, and regulatory texts that consecrate the principle in Cameroon.

Paragraph 1- The Constitution.

The constitution of Cameroon is the supreme law of the Republic of Cameroon. In its article 26,^[7] patrimonial and financial questions in the domain of law are been inscribed. Article 16(2)b^[8]precise that the parliament votes the budget before the end of the budgetary exercise and sets out the conditions of admissibility of bills from a financial point of view. Article 36 also creates the credit bench, audit bench.

Paragraph 2- Regulatory Texts and Laws that Consecrate the Principle of Separation of Authorizing Officer and the Accountant.

Several laws in adopted in Cameroon adopt the principle of separation of the authorizing officer and the accountant in public finance. These laws can be traced from the time when the state just acquired its independence and was a federal state. Thereafter, several laws where put in place to reaffirm the provisions of the previous financial laws. This will be looked upon as the laws that establish the principle of separation of authorizing officers and accountants in the implementation of the state budget and also the implementation of budgets at the regional and municipal levels.

[1] The Royal decrees of September 14, 1882, the ordinance of December 4 1836, empirical decree of May 31, 1862

[2] Ordinance No. 62/0F/4 of 7^th February 1962 on the financial regime of the Federal Republic of Cameroon, article 67 which provided that “A treasury accountant or his spouse cannot assume the functions of the authorizing officer of the state, nor of the authorizing g officer of the public legal person with which he performs his duties”.

[3] Law No. 2007/006 of 26 December 2007 on the financial regime of the state.

[4] Law No. 2018/012 of 11 July 2018on the financial regime of public institutions.

[5] Law No. 2009/011 of 15 December, on the financial regime of the territorial collectives.

[6] Law No. 2019/ 024 of 24 December 2019 on the general code of decentralized local authorities in Cameroon.

[7] Article 26 0f the 1966 constitution amended by the law of 2008/001 of April 14 2008 which patrimonial and financial questions in the domain of law are been inscribed

[8] Article 16 (2) b of the 1996 constitution modified by the law No. 2008/001 of 14 April 2008 is to the effect that “The National Assembly shall during one of its sessions, adopt the state budget. Where such budget is not adopted before the end of the current financial year, the president of the Republic shall be empowered to extend the previous budget by one-twelfth until a new one is passed”.