North West Office of The Public Independent Conciliator Ranks Performance Of Regional, Local Councils In 2024 Annual Report

By Martial Gnoukapasi

NW Public Independent Conciliator, Tamfu Simon Fai presenting 2024 Annual report

The North West office of the Public Independent Conciliator has published it's 2024 annual report, scoring Council's and their activities in line with the provisions guiding the job description of the office.

The office made the report public on Friday February 28th 2025, 21 days  after submitting it to the president of the republic as mandated by law. 

In the report, the Public Independent Conciliator's office looked at the the accessibility of mayors and their  council premises by locals, the Consultation and participation of the population in the decision making process in council activities and projects, creation of neighbourhood and village committees, citizen's involvement in the identification of council projects amongst others, in all the 35 councils that make up the region.

Staff of the office flanked the conciliator as he presented the report

It also used questionnaires to assess the performance of the various councils after which it was able to put together the report of council activities in 2024.

A total of 5,250 questionnaires were administered across the region, 150 each per council area according to the conciliator Mr Tamfu Simon Fai. 

Of the 5,250 questionnairs administered, 5,043 were returned to the office of the public independent conciliator, which were meticulously analyzed and the ranking done. 

 Presenting the results of the survey that were conducted towards the close of 2024, the Public Independent Conciliator for the North West, Tamfu Simon Fai made known the fact that some councils, a s compared to 2023, made significant improvements in certain domains, while others were adamant to change.

On the free issuance of civil status registration documents, he said; " from the analysis, it was generally observed that at least 50 percent of respondents across all councils agreed that councils still collected money from citizens for the establishment of birth, marriage as well as death certificates"

Tamfu Simon Fai presents to the press a sample copy of the report deposited with the president of the republic

He emphasize that following the campaign to stop this illegal practice, some councils have adopted new strategies from collecting money for the above mentioned purposes on the table to now doing so under the table. A practice which he said the PIC will continue to fight against till the issuance of these documents are completely 

He saluted the councils of Andek, Bamenda I, Nkum and Batibo for a significant drop in the collection of money for the establishment of civil status documents as compared to 2023, frowning at the other 27 councils still collecting money for the purpose of establishing these documents 

Tamfu Simon Fai encouraged citizens to denounce any council still perpetrating this act and report to his office for action should councils persist with their demands. 

"The office of the PIC can be seized at any time if a council asks you to pay for the production of any civil service documents." He said.

With regards to the practice of unethical conduct in councils, the 2024 perception survey revealed that there was an improvement in the way councils conduct business and the way they treat users and beneficiaries.

Bamenda I Mayor Mbigha Felix Njah, saluted for 2024 performance in most categories

From the survey, there were little or no unethical practices in Jakiri, Fundong, Bamenda I, Njikwa, Batibo and Misaje. The perception survey found a lot of unethical practices in Belo and Widikum councils.

In 2024, the Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development, MINDDEVEL came up with the concept of the creation of village and neighbourhood committees to assist in the selection of projects. 

This, as a means to improve on participatory development. In the survey, respondents were asked about their involvement in the identification and participation council projects. Improvements in this regard were visible in Ako, Andek and Bamenda I councils, meanwhile Elak, Balikumbat and Njinikom amongst others witnessed a significant drop.

With regards to the implementation of council projects, the survey recorded a slight drop in perception of citizen's involvement in the implementation of council development projects compared to 2023. Significant improvements were recorded in Ako, Andek and Tubah meanwhile Nkor, Widikum, Bali and Fonfuka registered poor ratings.

As governments continue in it's efforts to ensure the population is involve in their development and owning their projects, the survey also touched on consultation and participation of the population on decision making. The results obtained through the questionnaire made known that, a large number of community residents do not know their councillors and those who said they knew, indicate that they were largely unavailable. However, an improvement in the knowledge of their councillors was reported by the respondents of Misaje and Bamenda II.

President of the house of NW house of chiefs at the presentation ceremony

Concerning consultation of the population, the situation of Bamenda I, Ako and Misaje did well meanwhile Bali, Jakiri and Balikumbat were still the bottom three. 

The Bamenda I Council also scored high in responses gathered in citizen's satisfaction and confidence in the functioning of their councils. Alongside Nkambe, Ako, Fundong and Bamenda III.

In all, Bamenda I Council, Ako, Fundong, and Nkambe council featured on the honours roll spot meanwhile Nkor, Njinikom, Belo in some instances and Balikumbat have been encouraged to do better in 2025 as the PIC said focus will be on good governance.

The PIC office also observed a moment of silence for some of the local authorities lost in the course of 2024. The office cited the gruesome murder of the Second Deputy Mayor of Bamenda II, Madam Joko Freda, the killing of the second Deputy Mayor of Elak, Bongnjioh Quinta, the second Deputy Mayor of Babessi , Nkwatoh Solomon was also killed. This adds to the untimely death of Dr Ngong Innocent of Belo. 

The above atrocities committed against municipal authorities were condemned and also account for some of the reasons why some councils performed poorly 

The PIC has also pushed for a collaborative leadership at the helm of the North West Regional Assembly.

The uneasy calm between the President and Vice President he says, the PIC has wade in to bring reconciliation for Peace, normalcy and harmony. 

Mr Tamfu Simon Fai, at the end of his presentation acknowledged that the over 35 councils in the North West region and operating under difficult circumstances caused by the anglophone crisis, which makes it difficult for them to realize their annual development goals and other plan of action. 

Reason why the report also suggested a number of recommendations that can easily facilitate work for them this year. The office suggested for the councils to make good use of their locals in project development and execution, respect the bottom-to-top approach in decision making as they conduct business in their councils this 2025 physical year.