Bamenda II Councilors Okay Mayor Balick’s 2013 Administrative Accounts

By Fai Cassian 

Workaholic Mayor Balick of Bamenda II Council

The Bamenda II Council Administrative Accounts for 2013 have been endorsed by an overwhelming majority of councilors. This was the outcome of the March 3, 2014 session that took place under the watchful eyes of the 1^st Assistant Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam, Njumbe Jean Pierre. The decision by some twenty-two councilors to endorse Mayor Balick Awah Fidelis’ administrative accounts for 2013 sharply contrast self-claims by outside agitators that there were insufferable practices in the Bamenda II council in 2013. The administrative accounts passed as if it were a posted letter to anti-development crusaders that the Bamenda II Council is ready to contest in a transparency and credibility competition if need be. The administrative accounts which were approved by 22 councilors of the 27 that voted stood at FCFA 575,616,330 in revenue and 472,770,222 FCFA in expenditure. However, a critical judgment analysis of that administrative accounts show that the Bamenda II Council under Mayor Balick Awah Fidelis recorded an increase of 9,460,514 FCFA as compared to that of 2012 which stood at 566,155,816 FCFA in terms of revenue. More so, accumulatively, the Bamenda II Council also received as additional income taxes from FEICOM and local levies from the regional treasury which when summed up gave a total sum of 222,666,256 FCFA. Furthermore, the council also received a total sum of 65,144,000 FCFA as grants while revenue collected locally stood at 163,998,609 FCFA, outstandingly realizing a total recovery rate of 27.33%. Meanwhile the council also received from the Bamenda City Council a total subvention of 20,000,000 FCFA. It should be recalled that the balance transferred to the 2013 budget from 2012 amounted to 96,420,465 FCFA. And what was spent amounted to 472,770,222 FCFA which when subtracted from what came in during year through various channels, the Bamenda II Council still realizes a surplus margin of 102,846,108 FCFA will be absorbed into the 2014 budget.

Addressing councilors in his closing remarks, Njumbe Jean Pierre, 1^st Assistant SDO for Mezam expressed gratitude to everyone for the show of sense of maturity in their deliberations. He urged councilors to work in communion with the mayor so much so that they could achieve their goal of fostering development in the Bamenda II Sub divisional council. He said that the Bamenda II Council has to redouble its effort in revenue collection in order to make a good use of the available potentials. On his part Mayor Balick Awah Fidelis congratulated the councilors for the efforts they deployed in 2013 to the point that the endorsed administrative accounts which show that total realization stood at 72.54%. “May that spirit of collaboration continue so that at the end of it all, we shall be able to say and enumerate our own contribution towards nation building. If Cameroon must be an emergent Nation by 2035, then all of us in every corner must contribute positively, to attain that goal” Balick Awah told councilors. Harping on why the Bamenda II Council has not moved to the newly constructed council chamber, Balick Awah said that the main reasons are: the absence of electricity which necessitates the putting in place of a three phase electricity cable connection that could be extended to the neigbouring quarter of Alabukam. Besids, Balick Awah also said that the volume of water is also another problem given that the water only gets water at night. He council he said is working with CDE for the volume of water to be increased. 

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