By Emmanuel F Sanosi
The North West public contracts follow up committee chairman, Hon Awudu Mbaya, has intimated that the execution of contracts in the North West Province could be higher than 90 percent, if most contracts were not awarded and controlled from Yaounde. He made the assessment recently during a meeting with stakeholders to evaluate the rate of execution of public investment projects in the province.
In this regard, he exhorted all to take the exercise seriously especially as the satisfaction of the beneficiary population would be the yardstick for measuring the attainment of expected results. To meet this goal, the government will soon be working in synergy with civil society organizations for the proper management of State projects. This, Hon Awudu said, was one of the reasons that representatives of the Civil Society are members of this Committee.
He deplored unnecessary delays by authorizing officers in building up Tender Files, leading to late award of contracts. "The existence of a lone independent observer for the whole province, who attends all Tender Board sessions, evaluates bids for projects which amount to FCFA 30million of the Public Investment Budget (PIB) for council projects and those of government parastatals, is too much for one man.”
Hon Awudu lamented and at the same time called on the powers that be to increase not only the number of independent observers but also credible independent observers capable of overcoming temptations.
He also called for the re-affirmation of the communication network between the Centre in Yaounde and the province. "Follow-up has been extremely difficult," he said, and, "I am therefore proposing that while acknowledging the right of the higher authorities to award contracts in Yaounde and at local councils, information about the contractors and the nature of contracts should be given to the committee through the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development for control and follow-up at the provincial level in accordance with Article III of the Public Contracts Code. This is applicable to any contract financed or co-financed by the State budget, external, bi-lateral or multilateral aid funds, and loans guaranteed by the State, to ensure efficiency and feedback to the authorities concerned."
He condemned the "10 percent kickback" syndrome, saying that such 'unwritten laws' must stop if Cameroon is not to be reclassified as the most corrupt country in the world. He equally condemned administrative red tape and other unethical practices, insisting that procedures inherent in payment of contracts must be simplified after the reception and presentation of all required documents.
"I call on the Provincial Controller of Finance, the Treasury Paymaster General and the Control Engineers to submit written and signed reports in the future to reduce stress during meetings", Hon Awudu pleaded once more as he rounded off his well-received addressed, shortly before answering a barrage of questions from journalists.
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