Regional Councillors: Parliament Endorses Election Bills

The President of the Republic will in the coming days promulgate into law the bills pertaining to Regional Councillors following their adoption by the two Houses of Parliament. The Minister of Decentralisation and Local Development, Georges Elanga Obam during a plenary sitting of the Senate on April 5, 2019, defended the bills to fix the number, proportion per category and allowances of Regional Councillors and that to amend and supplement some provisions of Law No. 2012/1 of 19 April 2012 relating to the Electoral Code.

The President of the Senate Marcel Niat Njifenji chaired the plenary sitting in the presence of the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, Wakata Bolvine. The bill to fix the number, proportion per category and allowances of Regional Coun cillors, states that the Division is the electoral constituency for the election of regional councillors.

The bill enshrines the principle of equality between regions and fixes the number of regional councillors per region at 90. It specifies that there are two categories of councillors. One being delegates of divisions and another being representatives of traditional rulers.

As such, it provides for 70 delegates of divisions and 20 representatives of traditional rulers. To ensure proper representation, the bill states that the regional council shall comprise at least one councillor from each subdivision for the category of delegates of divisions. Regional councillors shall be entitled to a session allowance, mission allowances outside sessions. The bill to amend and supplement some provisions of Law No. 2012/1 of 19 April 2012 relating to the Electoral Code gives specifications on the election of regional councillors.

The delegates of divisions shall be elected by indirect uni versal suffrage. The representatives of traditional rulers sh...