Cameroon unveils plan to modernize local digital govt services

The government of Cameroon has disclosed that it is working to update a Digital Master Plan for decentralized entities in the country as part of efforts to further embed digital tools into the country’s decentralization process.

Decentralisation and Local Development Minister, Georges Elanga Obam, disclosed the plan recently during an address in the National Assembly where he was invited by lawmakers to present a balance sheet of the country’s decentralization process since a new dispensation was launched in 2019.

Speaking to the MPs, Obam said the Digital Master Plan update will act as the foundational for building “a unified digital ecosystem” across all local government bodies by improving governance, public service delivery, and citizen participation in decision-making at the local level.

According to the 1996 constitution, Cameroon is a decentralised unitary state where the central government relinquishes some of its powers and resources to local government bodies like regional and local councils to enable them better run their development affairs. The country has 394 decentralized local authorities which include 10 regions (they make up the second tier of decentralization), 360 local councils, and 14 city councils.

To make service delivery more effective at the base, authorities believe it is necessary to introduce digital technologies into local governance process, and that requires updating an existing Digital Master Plan to adjust to the changing landscape. In April, the government organised a conference on how digital technologies can leverage local governance.

Obam also told the MPs that the Digital Master Plan update will enable interoperability between systems, ensure coherence in digital initiatives and secure territorial information systems. Interconnecting the systems, the minister said, will among other things improve budget tracking across the local entities, improve transparency in local finance and enhance resource mobilization through digital tools.

He also talked about digitizing human resource management to streamline recruitments and payroll in the local civil service.

The minister added that as part of the digital transformation of local government structures, digital civil registration efforts will be accelerated with the aim of providing secure legal identity services to all citizens at the grassroot level, enabling easy access to services, and ensuring data protection.

Obam also noted that part of the plan in this regard is also to strengthen the capacity of the National Civil Registration office (BUNEC), operationalize secondary and special civil registration centers and provide technical support to decentralized local entities.

The government enacted a new civil registration law last December which aims to modernize civil registration and support the country’s advance towards its legal identity goals.

Another announcement made by Obam is that efforts plans are underway to update the curricula of the National School of Local Administration to include modules on digital government, data management digital citizen participation in the development process. NASLA is a specialised school created in 2020 for the training of personal needed to drive the decentralization process.

Recently, the government launched an upgraded digital procurement system with falls within the country’s broader digital transformation agenda.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Cameroon  |  civil registration  |  digital government  |  government services