Cameroon:CEFAM Director urged to implement new curriculum to ease decentralization

CEFAM Officials, Minister's envoy and  trainees in family photo during the ceremony.

By Christopher Ambe 

The  2019-2021 training period of the Local Government Training Centre, better known by its French acronym as CEFAM  Buea,was  Friday ,October 25 ,on campus, solemnly opened  by  Nfor Catherine Mugha epse Essoh, representative of the Minister of Decentralization and Local Development(MINDDEVEL).

Mrs. Essoh,who is the Director of Human Resources  for local Collectivities in MINDDEVEL Yaounde , reiterated the importance of decentralization  in today’s Cameroon and  urged the Director of CEFAM, Hagbe Mathieu to begin implementing the new curriculum of the center .She said the Government has decided to reform CEFAM so as to tailor it to the new challenges of decentralization and local governance.

The new CEFAM curriculum is tailored to meet the requirements of the much-talked about decentralization in Cameroon.

According to official documents made available to journalists, CEFAM training is in three cycles: Cycle 1 trains senior staff of local council administration; Cycle 2 trains intermediate staff of local council services and Cycle 3 is for the retraining and further training of  of Cycles 1 and 2 graduates.

The course lasts two years for cycles 1 &2 and, at most three months for   cycle 3.

The MINDDEVEL representative said her presence at the ceremony was to confirm the strong interest the Government in general and the MINDDEVEL in particular have in setting into full motion the decentralization program, defined by President Paul Biya.

“In effect, decentralized collectivities/councils are in need of qualified senior personnel and agents in order to optimize their results in the promotion of local development in general and to ameliorate the living conditions of the populations in particular”, Mrs.Esssoh noted.

The Minister’s envoy implored the trainees, who got admitted last December 28, after passing an entrance exam into CEFAM, to“ gather as much knowledge and skills as possible …in order to be innovative and duty-conscious ” because they are supposed to be development players.

Mrs.Essoh did not hide her feelings about the cleanliness of CEFAM

“The first thing that struck my attention when I entered CEFAM today was its cleanliness. Mr. Director, congratulations”, she said drawing thunderous applause from CEFAM staff and students, who were all robed in black suits.

For his part, Hagbe Mathieu, director of CEFAM acknowledged the expectation of the state from the center in this current dispensation. He said the center, which is the only institution now training in the area of decentralization, has a daunting task; but the director was confident that CEFAM would succeed in its mission, with the collaboration and support of hierarchy.

“ The students have to stay here for two years and will be awarded certificates upon the successful completion of their studies”, he said ,admitting that CEFAM has a new curriculum ,which is adapted to the requirements of decentralization, to make sure the training content is meeting the needs on the field”

Earlier in his welcome address, Dr. Ebah Moses, Chief of Service for Administration and Finance of the center, thanked Government for supporting CEFAM, which is a catalyst for local development; then came Madam Elizabeth Jarreth, deputy director of CEFAM, who presented the pedagogic activities carried out by the center, which was created in 1977 by Presidential decree. Madam Jarreth said after the publication of the entrance results by MINDDEVEL classes effectively took last July 29 with a total of 155 students in the various cycles.

She pointed out that CEFAM is “innovating to make our training more responsive to the needs of our clients, councils” and expressed gratitude to CEFAM’s partners for their technical assistance.

An academic discourse on the theme “The Stakes of Decentralization in Cameroon” was presented by Dr.Thomas. Kotto of the University of Douala.

Cultural dances and sketches by students demonstrating national unity and integration were also staged for the amusement of the audience.

Worthy of note is the fact all the speakers on the occasion promoted bilingualism by speaking in both French and English,a plausible move initiated by  senior CEFAM staff ,Ignatius  Atumu,who was the  master of ceremony.