Decentralisation et developpement local au Cameroun : cas de la commune de Ngwei (region du littoral), 2007-2020

Abstract

The urgency for increased decentralization was felt in Cameroon after the great economic recession of the 1980 s. Under the instigation of donors and the Cameroonian government, the national development strategy of Cameroon integrated more the participation of the populations in the management of local public affairs. On January 18, 1996, the law amending the constitution of June 2, 1972 was promulgated. It states that Cameroon is a decentralized state. The decentralization process had just been legalized in Cameroon. Therefore, municipalities occupy a place of choice in local development. On April 23, 2007 the municipality of Ngwei was created, it experimented in the priority sectors of its local economy. The dissatisfaction of certain populations in the first years of the creation of the commune is explained by the fact that they believed that decentralization brought immediate development. Little by little, tempers calmed down but one is still entitled to wonder if decentralization in the municipality is efficient. Following a empirical deductive approach, on the basis of a thematic plan and a multidisciplinary approach, this research presents a priori an overview of the municipality of Ngwei then, the question of the decentralization process in the said common, then the impact. The stakes of this policy in the service of local development in the municipality and finally a summary assessment of the strategy of the decentralization policy during the first two terms of the municipality of Ngwei is presented. Considering the search for the well-being of the municipality of Ngwei as a permanent quest to improve the living conditions of the populations of this municipality, the impact of the sectors of public works, hydraulics, electricity, education, health, trade and agriculture has been a priority of decentralization in Ngwei commune from 2007 to 2020. However, at the end of its work, it appears that the rehabilitation of the roads and their impact on all the populations of Ngwei only attest that, the municipality in this period has put more emphasis on the development of the road infrastructure. This sector appears as a transversal sector whose impact is immediate in the process of economic and social.