Stakeholders in the local administration drive of the Cameroon government under training at the National School of Local Administration (NASLA), have been schooled on the National Development Strategy within the Decentralization and Local Development Context on Thursday, 8 January 2024.
The conference was moderated by Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy Planning and Regional Development Incharge of Planning, Minister Paul Tassong as special guest. The hundreds of participants included stakeholders from the South West Regional Assembly, National Independent Conciliator and Buea Municipality, were drilled on the priority of the National Development Strategy for 2030 and the Regional Development Master Plan.
To Minister Paul Tassong, the intended message was well received and understood. “During the question and answer session we opted to ask the students to evaluate the conference by telling us what they heard. The few who took the floor revealed that they understood the message, stakes and the responsibility which is theirs as the future local and regional administration public service.”
Acknowledging the challenge of the public service in the face of decentralization, the Minister noted that, it was NASLA’s place to strike a balance in cultivating planning in the local administration stakeholders under training.
“… setting up of this prestigious school to enable the staff and student understand that planning is not reserved for the central administration but that there is need for planning at the level of the regions.” He explained.
Mange Stephanie, a participant noted that the conference added information to their training. “We are the light of decentralization. The minister made it clear to us that we have to take our training seriously because we are going to be key stakeholders in decision making of local administration.”
Created by a Presidential degree in 2020, NASLA NASLA is designed for local administration of local councils, regions, establishments, trade , trade unions and other decentralized entities.