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O 171439Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8708
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE 0117

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000262 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO FOR EEB/IFD/OMA ANDREW SNOW AND RICHARD FIGUEROA 
STATE ALSO FOR AF/EPS ANN BREITER AND ELLIOT REPKO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID EFIN ECON KCOR PREL CM
SUBJECT:  CAMEROON INPUT FOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORT ON FISCAL 
TRANSPARENCY 
 
REF: STATE 16737 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  The following information is keyed to questions in 
reftel: 
 
--Is Cameroon's Budget Made Public? 
 
At the beginning of the fiscal year, the Government of Cameroon 
(GRC) publishes an overview of projected expenditures, indicating 
how the GRC intends to spends money at the Ministry-level. 
Cameroonian citizens are able to obtain information about budget 
execution, but it is difficult to do so and not all expenditure 
details are available. 
 
-- If so, through what medium (e.g., publication, internet)? 
 
The budget plan is published in newspapers and made widely 
available.  Details of how funds are actually spent are not widely 
distributed.  Post is aware that civil society groups have succeeded 
in accessing spending details for the Ministries of Education, for 
example, but only after extensive effort. 
 
-- Are all revenues and expenditures included in the 
publicly-available budget? 
 
No.  The publicly available budget includes only projections and 
these are at the Ministry level.  The GRC provides regular updates 
about the rate of budget execution over the course of the fiscal 
year, but this information includes only percentage breakdowns of 
the level of recurrent spending and investment executed at the end 
of the semester. 
 
-- If the revenues and expenditures are available in a 
publicly-available budget, how meaningful and accurate is the 
information? 
 
Cameroon's public budget plan is often not reflective of budget 
execution.  Publicly available information about budget execution 
can be misleading in part due to management practices that obscure a 
given agency's expenditures and future spending commitments. 
 
-- If a country is weak on fiscal transparency is it due to capacity 
or lack of will? 
 
Cameroon's capacity to manage its budget is severely limited.  Over 
the last few years, the GRC has demonstrated willingness to improve 
management of the budget and outside observers agree that much 
progress has been made.  Political will is as factor as well, 
however, as neither government officials nor public citizens are 
well versed in the concepts of fiscal transparency and public 
accountability.  The current Minister of Finance has demonstrated a 
strong political will to improve financial management and 
accountability. 
 
-- Are there any USG programs to strengthen the host country's 
capacity to develop sound fiscal policies and that support 
transparency and good governance? 
 
The USG's ability to strengthen Cameroon's capacity to improve the 
fiscal regime is severely restrained by the lack of funding for such 
projects.  Nevertheless, the Embassy provided Democracy and Human 
Rights Fund support to Dynamique Citoyenne, a civil society 
organization, to conduct "budget tracking," obtaining details of 
budget expenditures and conducting field verification studies. 
Members of Dynamique Citoyenne were able to obtain the expenditure 
details (about school construction) only with difficulty and found 
that projects were often not completed.  Additionally, the U.S. 
Embassy engages in forward-leaning public diplomacy to advocate for 
greater management of public resources.  In an effort to apply 
pressure for improved accountability, the US Embassy continues to 
look for ways to apply the punitive measures called for under 
Presidential Proclamation 7750, creating new ineligibilities for 
corrupt individuals under Section 212f of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act. 
 
-- Are other donor countries or multilateral institutions (e.g. the 
EU or World Bank) providing assistance in these areas? 
 
The European Union, IMF and World Bank are heavily engaged in 
Cameroon's efforts to improve fiscal management and transparency. 
 
-- Has the country volunteered for the IMF to report on the 
country's compliance with standards and codes covering fiscal 
transparency? 
 
A Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) on 
Cameroon's fiscal transparency and transparency of monetary and 
financial policies was issued on June 16, 2000.  The data module of 
 
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the ROSC was issued on August 24, 2001 (CR/01/150).  Post does not 
have further information about Cameroon's participation. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Post welcomes this renewed interest in fiscal transparency, 
an issue that is critical to Cameroon's development challenges. 
Post point of contact for this issue is Poloff Clinton "Tad" Brown, 
BrownCS@state.gov; (237)22-20-15-00 extension 4070.