Christopher Jator Njechu
3 April 2008
The execution of university budgets have, as from the current school year, been placed under the immediate supervision of heads of institutions and directors of all six State universities.
This information, which the Rector of the University of Yaounde I, Dr. Dorothy Limunga Njeuma, disclosed on March 26, at a meeting of heads of institutions affiliated to the University, is contained in the ministerial circular dated January 15, 2008. The circular, signed by Finance Minister, Lazare Essimi Menye, specifies the modalities for the execution of the 2008 budget of State universities.
It also empowers heads of all affiliated university institutions to directly run the budget of their institutions, which the central services of the main university would coordinate. In order to quicken the execution of projects on campuses, curb inertia and instil sanity and transparency in the management of funds,
the ministerial order empowers heads of institutions to choose their accountants, thereby putting an end to situations whereby funds were kept by individuals recruited by the Ministry of Finance and thus answerable only to the recruiter. The measure, they say, will facilitate the lecturers' tasks to deliver their best to students.
Participants who were drawn from the schools of engineering and medicine, higher teachers training colleges in Yaounde and Bambili and the faculties of arts and science - were told that the university's budget for 2008, which stands at FCFA 8.547.521.000, should be used for the amelioration of teaching in order to improve on the quality of education given to students.
The budget of the University for 2008 shows an increase of FCFA 168million and this, according to the Rector, will help in accomplishing the objectives of decentralisation.
The various institutions will share in the budget as follows: Rectorate and Central Services will have FCFA 4, 4 billion, Faculty of Arts FCFA 790,7 million, Faculty of Science FCFA 816,4 million, Faculty of Medicines FCFA 673.3 million, ENS Yaounde FCFA 711,9 million, ENS Bambili FCFA 303,3 million and the School of Engineering FCFA 851 million.
The untimely payment of subventions the problem of Value Added Tax, TVA, in the execution of tenders for projects of the institutions are some of the problems the directors complained about. These, they say hinder the normal functioning of their institutions.
The meeting, whose aim was to sensitise participants on the execution of the 2008 budget under the new decentralised system, was also an opportunity for them to ask questions and seek responses from their Rector.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Post. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
