£7.9 millions UK aid allocated for the governance in Cameroon distracted

The Secretary of State has announced a review of the DFID Bilateral Aid Programme.

For this year 2010, the Cameroon government might receive less than its has received during the previous government.

The coalition government that is struggling with the cuts is not yet ready to increase the aid in Cameroon. For the moment there is no indication about the amount that  Biya administration will receive.

The Labour government was not really happy by the way the government has managed and handled the public fund received in order to improve the governance and accountability in Cameroon..

Today, Cameroon with an estimated population of nearly 19.5 million faces significant development challenges with around 65% of the population living on less than $2 a day , according to  international NGOs that work on the field and that differ from the official figures at 50% and life expectancy at birth still only 45.8 years of age.

Cameroon has been able to receive that aid because in October 2000 its became eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative ( HIPC) and also been listed as the worst country in the world where authorities do nothing and less efforts to fight against corruption.

Even though, the country has achieved completion point of the HIPC and has been eligible for debt relief.

The international community thought  at that point that the country has got enough chance for sustainable growth and implement significant policy of poverty reduction.

But that was not the case in Cameroon. The UK aid that was received in Cameroon in the last 2 years has not served the population but some members of the closed entourage of Paul Biya and his wife.

More than £8 millions of tax payers money have been wasted in Cameroon and the state of governance is still appalling. The UK government put a lot more effort in Cameroon to improve only the education so that the next generation can fight against corruption and poverty.

But the money do not attend the area that its supposed to cover and to bring the change needed by the entire population of more than 15 millions. The UK aid in Cameroon was designed to help authorities to continue its efforts in transparent governance and fighting corruption.

There are more than 45 ministerial committees to fight against corruption in Cameroon publicly funded and have not yet arrested a single corrupt person or civil servant. Paul Biya is the only one with power to decide who the judicial system can detain and sentence to prison for a certain period of time.

 In most prisons in Cameroon there are more former members of the government there than simple citizen..All have been accused for embezzlement and asked by the court to repay back what they have distracted from the taxpayer saves. Millions of pounds have been distracted from the UK aid allocated to Cameroon with no chance of repayment.

Unfortunately, the government did not take advantage to fix and to build a stronger, safer, and united country.

Millions of pounds have been wasted in Cameroon in the last 2 years and the National Audit Office that keeps a watch on public spending for the parliament has produced a report recently that shows the unaccountable reason why the Cameroon authorities could not produce a clear and understandable report of the public spending.

 The aid has been distracted in Cameroon by a group of closed relatives of Paul Biya and his wife, Chantal Biya.....And now for the change, the new coalition UK government must make sure that the aid is likely to contribute to reducing poverty and bring the change that its needed in Cameroon..

.The UK department for International Development works to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the International targets agreed by the United Nations to halve poverty in the world by 2015.