By Francis Tim Mbom
Councillors of the Limbe III Council (Bimbia) are yearning for a training course to learn how to properly assess their Mayor and his staff on financial management.
The councillors made the request to the 1st Deputy Mayor, Isaac Dale, during their first ordinary session, convened for the examination and adoption of the Administrative, Management and Stores Accounts of the transitional period from September to December 2007.
The Bimbia councillors, who were elected later in the year, took up duties only in September after they were sworn into the youthful council that was created in April 2007.Called last week to examine how the Council, led by Mayor Samuel Mokate, spent FCFA 44.261 million of state subventions, the councillors, who were divided into four working committees, raised a motion to the effect that they needed training to be able to carry out their assessments effectively.
Besides, they argued that the transitional budget was never voted or adopted by them; as a result, their job had been made more difficult.When the former Limbe Council was cleft into three political bits of Limbe I, II and III, the Fako administration took the initiative and made a proposed budget of FCFA 97 million, to the government for each of the three new councils.
For Bimbia, the government finally disbursed FCFA 44.261 million for the four months.
Dale told his fellow councillors that of the above sum; FCFA 36 million was spent to setup their offices and a few other needs.
He said they had a balance of FCFA 7.33 million which was carried forward to the 2008 fiscal year.The mayor then went on to announce a training for the councillors, organised by a Limbe-based NGO, CAJAD with the sponsorship of the British High Commission.
Meantime, the Second Assistant SDO of Fako, Johnson Malafa Mochi, who presided over the session, told the councillors that it was their responsibility to examine the accounts provided that the money was state funds.
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