Imperative Transparency!

Managing the coronavirus pandemic currently ravaging the world, Cameroon inclusive, can be challenging looking at the complexities linked to it. Being a virus, it is invisible and so infects and destroys even the unsuspecting human life and economy.

As government battles to clip the wings of the destroyer, striving to make good use of available human resources, the need to keep the population abreast with the evolution of the pandemic and how well funds budgeted and painstakingly sourced for that are spent is crucial. For, the confusion brought in by the pandemic might blind some administrators and open floodgates for others to reap from where they haven’t sown. No one, or at least very few, would ignore the fact that crises are rare moments for unscrupulous individuals to pilfer public funds in the guise of handling the situation. Past crises teach the lesson of caution!

The Prime Minister’s decree of July 22, 2020 fixing the allocation of the Endowment of the Special National Solidarity Fund for the Fight against Coronavirus and its economic and social repercussions as well as the Circular of the Minister of Finance of the same day specifying the modalities of organisation, operation and monitoring-evaluation of the Special National Solidarity Fund for the Fight against coronavirus and its socio-economic consequences are thus more than timely.

Besides showing government’s desire for transparency, the Minister’s circular accompanying the PM’s decree fixing the allocation of the endowment of the Solidarity Fund could also be read as a call for caution on vote holders.

Government and development partners, alongside people of goodwill do sacrifice a lot to contain the spread of the virus as well as cushion its effects on the national socio-economic fabric. That government had to amend certain provisions of the 2020 Finance Law, notably readjusting the State budget to handle eventualities caused by the virus speaks of its unwavering determination to safeguard lives and livelihoods. Contributions chipped in thus far from within and without to the Special Solidarity Fund set up by the Head of State is equally telling of valued cohesion in handling a common enemy. Donors to the Solidarity Fund definitely need to know how the scarce resources they gave and give are being used.

The government’s outing underlines that the functioning mechanism of the Special Allocation Account makes it possible to guarantee better monitoring of the use of the reso...