Decentralization and Local Development in the Adamawa Region, Northern Cameroon: A SWOT Analysis of the Implementation Process

Abstract

The State of Cameroon has opted for a decentralization policy since its constitution of January 18, 1996. Yet the implementation of this policy has been very slow, until the upsurge of the Anglophone crisis in 2016. The implementation of decentralization therefore started to have its real shape in 2019 with the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities (RLAs). Yet, an observation of its implementation process demonstrates challenges both on the government side and on the RLAs side. The case study of the Adamawa region has as objective, from a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats) approach, to examine the main challenges of the implementation of decentralization in a local area. For, all regions of Cameroon are not faced with the same challenges in this process. This main objective is operationalized thanks to two sub-objectives. The first one has to do with identifying the internal challenges to the implementation of decentralization, and the second one is concerned with analyzing the implementation process from a longitudinal comparative approach with the process of some countries with a historic advance in decentralization as a policy. The methodological approach here is qualitative. From a documentary research with about 40 documents examined, and individual semi-structured interviews done with about 15 key informants and direct observations done in 5 municipalities of the Adamawa region, the main finding of this research is that there is a unidirectional approach of decentralization over leaning on government efforts, according to which the latter is the initiator and the actor and the regional and local authorities are the beneficiaries at the internal level. The longitudinal comparative approach at the international level demonstrates that the Adamawa region, as a regional and local set, has a delay compared to local communities of the United State of America, England, Indonesia in their early stage of decentralization, and doesn’t capitalize its human, material, natural and diplomatic resources to improve its autonomy and management. Considering the fact that the general decentralization allocation is around 7% of state revenue transferred to RLAs, far beneath the 15% of what is previewed by the General Code of RLAs on the one hand, and that some deconcentrated administration authorities are sluggish in transferring other competencies, this approach has to be revised not only in the Adamawa region, but in all the other regions of Cameroon. If decentralization has to be effective and productive as a policy in the next 10 years. Regional and local authorities are not just beneficiaries, but most consider themselves more as actors of this implementation process and undertake initiatives for its effectiveness.