The implementation of the "Strengthening Fiscal Justice" project funded by the Norwegian Development Agency (NORAD) and coordinated by Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), therefore provides an opportunity for CSOs to make their voices heard by the Government through the Senators and Deputies who are members of the Platform for Parliamentary-Civil Society Dialogue on the Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Action. A preparatory workshop for an inclusive BOD is organised for this purpose by CRADEC this 13th June 2022.
The main objective of the workshop is to prepare and contribute to the Budget Orientation Debate (BOD) of the parliamentary session with the help of civil society organisations, the media and any other stakeholder in the debate on sectoral and thematic public policies.
The mobilisation of domestic resources is important for African states. It is even imperative in the context of the current health, security, economic and social crises. It allows the level of budgetary revenue to be improved in order to finance development objectives on a more rational, objective and optimal basis.
Thus, CRADEC and its partners would like to pursue these dynamics in eccentric circles by initiating debates within the hemicycle in order to guarantee budgetary sovereignty capable of financing the objectives of sustainable development in Cameroon. However, these initiatives will also need to be specifically carried by parliamentarians. The CSOs would like to insist on problems that hinder the performance of public action, the social utility of policies, and the effectiveness of the development of our country through its second participation in the preparation of the Budget Orientation Debate (DOB) in the Cameroonian Parliament; the first of which took place in 2021 and allowed them to give their unction on the budgetary policy choices of the Government.
It should be recalled that with the adoption of the laws of 11 July 2018 respectively on the Financial Regime of the State and other public entities and the Code of Transparency and Good Governance in the Management of Public Finances in Cameroon, the process of drafting the finance law has been enriched by a crucial step which is the Budget Orientation Debate (BOD). Indeed, Article 11 of the above-mentioned Financial Regime stipulates that:
- "Each year before 1 July, the Government shall transmit to Parliament the medium-term framework documents ..., along with a report on the macroeconomic situation and a report on the execution of the budget of the current financial year";
- "On the basis of these documents and reports, Parliament shall organise a Budget Orientation Debate in public session, but without a vote.
