Fako Councils in the South West Region of Cameroon, all CPDM-run have pledged to support the funeral ceremony of Hon Emilia Lifaka with the sum of 18 million FCFA.
As reported by The Post Newspaper in its weekender, Friday, May 7, the councils declared the pledge Tuesday, May 4 in a meeting with the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Fako.
These elected municipal authorities have repeatedly cried out that the councils are cash-strapped.
Limbe City Mayor, Andrew Motanga was the bearer of the 18 million FCFA pledge message at a time when workers are going for the sixth month without salary.
Earmarked projects for the fiscal year are at standstill with no finances to begin works, blamed on the Anglophone and health crises.
Ironically, the same mayors make several trips to Yaoundé with their mission allowances paid without delay. Government officials who visit Fako have always gone back refreshed with mouthwatering reception and fuel envelopes from these same councils. Leaving their community members to affirm that their leaders only interested in serving to satisfy their self-ego.
Buea, host to Cameroon’s first Anglo-Saxon university with a huge student population is without regular potable water.
Yet critics wonder why such whooping sum is allocated for the burial of an elite who was neither a mayor nor a council worker.
Contractors on their part are in a fix with accrued unpaid money for contracts executed since 2018.
Internally, councils nationwide are suffocating from the economic meltdown imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the situation made worse with councils in North West and South West Regions.
The crises have understandably resulted in inadequate cash flow, handicapping them from paying salaries of workers for months.
However, mayors are never out of cash to spend on issues that do not add up to improve community well-being.
