A firm instruction has been given to the Treasurer Paymaster General (TPG) of Buea, Peter Ayuk Akpoeban to ensure that security and vigilance is heightened in the SW region, during the 2nd coordination meeting of public accountants of the South West region, Friday, July 18 in Mbonge.

The meeting took place on the basis of a reported case of burglary at the Limbe City Council, where unidentified hoodlums broke into the council and made away with huge sums of money and valuable items.

A sum of about 21 million (20,893,000fcfa) was stolen from the council coffers. The TPG of the South West, Peter Ayuk Akpoeban used the occasion of the coordination meeting of public accountants to urge all his collaborators to intensify security at their respective posts so as to pre-empt and avert such burglary cases in the future.

Peter Ayuk made the call in response to the report from the control team which he dispatched to the City Council after the burglary. The team reported that the men of the underworld actually broke into the council offices, destroyed the door of council treasury and made away with huge sums of money besides other valuables.

This second coordination meeting for 2014, like previous ones, was a forum for various stakeholders in the public finance sector of the region to take stock of activities in the past semester. The meeting dueled essentially on the performance of actors in the public finance chain. But aspects like execution of the investment budget, revenue collection, problems faced by treasurers and lapses observed in areas of revenue collection and presentation of quarterly reports were also brought to the fore.

The meeting also afforded treasurers and other public finance actors a platform to share experiences and exchange ideas on best practices in the exercise of their exacting and at times very tempting duties. After long hours of presentations and brainstorming participants also suggested better ways and means of attaining their set objectives.

In his opening remarks at the forum the representative of the SW Governor hammered on the need for those officials charged with managing public funds to took into account the recent 5% increase in salaries of public sector workers, and the fuel price increase which are likely to create unexpected pressures in their respective accounts.

The TPG responded promptly to the Governor’s worry when in his key-note address at the meeting he urged his collaborators at various revenue collection posts to intensify collection and if possible identify new sources of revenue so as to make good the expected lags, to be able to meet up with the new pressures that the salary increase and fuel price hikes are likely to invite on the public finance sector.

Peter Ayuk used the occasion to also highlight government’s resolve to fight poverty at the grass roots of society by significantly subsidizing execution of socio-economic projects by local councils. He noted the marked increase in government’s subvention to South West councils from 4 billion 456 million last year to 8 billion 88 million this year.

The TPG expressed his gratitude to key players who worked hard toward the recorded rise in customs revenue (27.35%) and collections from the toll gate (39.73%) in the last semester.

But Peter Ayuk at once wondered aloud over the significant drop observed in revenues from the weighing stations. It emerged that a paltry Fcfa 8 million was collected from weighing stations in the second semester, as opposed to 12 million in the 1st semester, a drop of 30.87%. The TPG exhorted the authorities concerned to redouble their efforts at revenue collection.

Peter Ayuk also expressed satisfaction at the level of execution of investment projects in the SW region. He hailed the Delegation of Public Contracts for their commendable role in hastening contracts awards, noting that 139 of a total of 226 contracts had been awarded as at 30 June 2014, with 34% of the investment budget already consumed.

But the TPG frowned on the snail’s pace of execution of council-controlled projects. He regretted that only 7.4% of the special allocation for councils had been consumed by 30 June 2014. Commentators at the meeting blamed the low rate of execution of council projects to the poor mastery of contract award procedures by council executives.

The TPG also frowned on some municipal treasurers, some of whom have not produced a single financial account in months. Peter Ayuk urged these supposedly ‘lazy’ accountants to sit up, and to produce and submit their financial accounts in time. In fact, it emerged that a total of 137 councils had not produced even one financial account as at 30 June 2014. The TPG said this laxity of Municipal Treasurers only helps to stifle and jeopardize the work of those at the regional treasury in Buea.

Present at the Mbonge get-together was the representative of the Director General of treasury, the SDO for Meme, D.O of Mbonge, Regional Delegates of MINMAP and MINEPAT, heads of customs posts, the mayor of Mbonge among others.