By Kini Nsom
A meeting of the CPDM Parliamentary Group on December 13, turned out to be a baptism of fire for the newly appointed Minster of the Economy and Finance, Polycarpe Abah Abah.
Abah Abah, who attended the meeting at the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House to address some of the concerns of the MPs, incurred the wrath of the latter in critical questions.
“We asked the Minister to tell us why government has increased taxes without a corresponding increase in the salaries of Cameroonians,” a CPDM MP who asked for anonymity, told The Post.
The MP said they were almost brash when they docked the Minister on the belated tabling of the 2005 budget. The budget was tabled four days to the end of the ongoing parliamentary session that began on November 18.
According to our source, the Finance Minister, in his response, blamed the belated tabling of the budget on the claim that the International Monetary Fund, IMF, dictated the pace of events.
He reportedly said government prepared the budget together with some IMF officials.
Abah Abah was also quoted as saying that government equally had problems preparing the budget because of the disturbing situation of Cameroon Airlines. According to him, CAMAIR was going down the drain, so government had to go an extra mile to rescue it from total collapse.
But the MP took exception to this excuse, calling it ridiculous prevarication. “What the Minister did not tell us is that, so much money was used in buying a useless aircraft, Albatross, for the Head of State”.
According to the MP, Cameroon failed to reach the HIPC-I completion point because “extravagant and corrupt government officials” embezzled public funds by buying ostentatious cars.
He said even though government cannot function without taxes, the solution to Cameroon’s economic malaise is not to increase taxes, but to map out strategies that will improve the collection of government revenue.
Protest
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Group of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, has reacted angrily to the belated tabling of the 2005 Finance bill. In a release signed by the group leader, Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam, the MPs write:
“ During March 2002, the government tabled a bill seeking the amendment of ordinance N0 62/OF/4 of 7th February 1962 setting out, inter-alia, the form of presentation and the methods of implementation of the budget.”
According to the release, Law N02002/001 of April 19, 2002, amending some provisions of the said ordinance, was adopted and promulgated by the President of the Republic.
Quoting section 49 of this new law, the SDF MPs said: “the Finance bill for the year, including the annexes referred to in Article 52, shall be tabled before the Bureau of the National Assembly not later than 15 days before the beginning of the session, during which it shall be considered.”
They thought that the spirit of this bill consists in the necessity to give to the people’s representative, sufficient time for examination and scrutiny of the Finance Bill and its accompanying documents.
This Parliamentary Session opened on November 18, the MPs observe, but in flagrant violation of section 49 of this law, the Finance Bill was tabled on December 13, barely four days to the end of the Session.
They condemned the fact that the same scenario took place in November 2004.
“We, members of SDF Parliamentary Group, remain convinced that the scrutiny of the state budget, constitutes such an important exercise that should not be rushed over in a short time.
We call on Cameroonians of goodwill and the international community, to bear witness to the efforts we have deployed, concerning this crime,” the release stated.
The release suggests that the Head of State should use the provisions of the law, to extend the current financial year, by one twelfth, so that MPs can have time to accurately scrutinise the budget.
What Scrutiny?
The 2005 budget, is expected to be adopted before the current parliamentary session ends up on December 12. But most MPs The Post contacted complained that they have not yet seen a copy of the document.
“I have not yet seen a copy of the bill,” Hon. Paul Abine Ayah, CPDM MP for the Akwaya constituency, told The Post on December 15, when asked to comment on the spirit of the bill.
The MP for Fako West, Hon. Andrew Efite, expressed the same disappointment. According to the SDF MP for Jakiri, Hon. Awudu Nsanyuy, he heard on radio that the Finance Bill has been tabled.
He was yet to have a copy of the bill when The Post met him on December 15, barely two days to the end of the session. It is within this context that observers are asking whether the draft bill will pass through any Parliamentary scanning.
Members of government who are expected to defend their various budgetary allocations before the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, do so in a mad hurry. According to a member of the Committee, members of the government use only 45 minutes to defend their budget. They leave, irrespective of whether MPs are satisfied with their explanations or not.
2005 Budget Can’t Fight Poverty
One of those who were fortunate to have the draft bill on December 15, is Hon. Paulinus Jua, MP for the Boyo Constituency.
He holds that such a bill cannot enhance the fight against poverty, as government claims. In a chat with The Post, he regretted that almost 50 percent of the budget
goes to the payment of recurrent expenditure in government. According to him, only 20 percent of the budget is set aside for investment. Also, only 20 percent of it is allocated for the payment of internal debts.
Jua said the bill was not tailored to revive the economy, pay external debts and encourage investment in the country. Going by him, the increase in taxes was the biggest irony, because the salaries of Cameroonians have not been increased.
He said even the increase in taxes will yield no dividends if the corruption perpetrated by tax collectors is not checked.
“The whole country, contractors and vote holders are all waiting for this budget.
How are we going to use it to fight corruption,” he wondered. Jua attributed the increase in taxes to the fact that Cameroon failed to reach the HIPC-I completion point.
He regretted that the tax burden was mostly on the ordinary Cameroonians, who were paying for government’s incompetence and negligence.
We no nova see nothing.This is a pure satanic regime but we can,t escape the economic crime and genocide King Biya and his cronies are busy inflicting on poor Cameroonians but if we do...our children and grand children would surely not.All of us in one way or the other will get a prime share of this economic genocide.So..it doesn,t matter where u are now.
Posted by: Warlord | Saturday, 18 December 2004 at 07:43 AM