Administrative bottlenecks and frequent breakdown of computers account to blame.

More than midway gone into the 2013 financial year, the South West Region with a budgetary allocation of FCFA 9.332.509.000 for the first quarter has recorded less than 10 per cent consumption rate. The low rate of execution of the State budget in the region is attributed to administrative bottlenecks and technical hitches with computers and its software. The evaluation was made last Friday July 19 in Buea during the first regional coordination meeting of Finance Controllers for the first quarter.

Addressing Finance Controllers from all the six Divisions of the region, the Secretary General at the South West Governor's office, Fon Clement Ndikum, underscored the importance of public finance in the life of the country. He thus obliged the finance experts to ensure the proper use of the funds by following the regulation in force and guarantee the good quality of works programmed.

The South West regional scribe justified the low rate of budget consumption stating the introduction of the programme budget, the new Ministry of Public Contract with so many innovations, the late start of execution of the State budget in the region are among the reasons behind the dismal performance. While exhorting the different stakeholders to ensure a proper budget execution process, the Secretary General expressed the wish for a boost in the consumption of the credit allocated to the region as fallout of the coordination meeting.

On her part, the South West Regional Controller of Finance, Mme Alice Nouboue pointed out that the meeting would come out with a roadmap to solve some of the challenges such as technical breakdowns of computers and software, insufficient personnel and the poor state of roads in the region. She corroborated the Governor's representative in the administrative bottlenecks involved in the award of contracts procedures. Most of the projects, she indicated, are still at the level of award which explains the less than 10 per cent rate of consumption. However, Mme Nouboue remained optimistic that the region would leave up to expectation.

The coordination meeting was also a forum for Finance Controllers to be drilled on "The Role and Attributions of Finance Controllers in the management of public finances" and the "Liabilities of Finance Controllers in the Programme Budget system".