State Budget – MINFI Embraces Results-Based Management

George Mbella

28 June 2011

Senior officials of the Ministry of Finance, MINFI, have been called upon to implement instructions of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, on the modernisation of the public service and state budget implementation by embracing results-based management.

The call was made in Yaounde yesterday, June 28, by the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Finance, Titti Pierre, while opening a two-day seminar to drill the said officials on notions of results-based management.

“Obtaining results is an exigency that would enable the State ensure a better use of its resources and improve on management tools for more efficiency in its actions,” said Titti Pierre to the participants. He further expressed hope that the seminar will help officials align their managerial practices to results-based management norms.

In 2008, the new financial regime promulgated by the Head of State instituted the concept of results-based management and programming as standards for the implementation of the state budget hitherto based just on expenditure.

The Programme to Modernise the Administration by the Adoption of Results-based Management, PROMAGAR, was adopted by government in the same year with the assistance of the Canadian Cooperation. PROMAGAR aims at integrating modern management tools into public administration.

To make real the implementation of the reforms, the Prime Minister and Head of Government, created Think Tanks in charge of PROMAGAR in nine ministries, at the end of 2009.

According to Titti Pierre, the new approach of emphasising on results will ensure that the activities carried out in different administrative departments contribute to attaining results and making concrete the content of the socio-economic and cultural development programme proposed by the Head of State in line with the aspirations of the Cameroonian people.

Also speaking at the start of the seminar yesterday, the Inspector General at MINFI in charge of Financial Regime Services, Mahamat Amine, said his ministry’s PROMAGAR Think Tank launched its activities in January 2010 and produced a three-year action programme comprising 13 projects, five of which had started.

“This seminar is part of the sixth project that dwells on training MINFI’s personnel on results-based management,” he said. The project, he added, will be implemented in three phases during a period of 24 months to drill senior officials, different actors in MINFI’s results-based management chain as well as staff working in central and external services of the ministry.

The participants disclosed that some aspects of the reforms were already implemented with success. According to Metou’ou Amvela Constant, ministerial road maps and action plans are new tools that enable ministries to act, monitor and evaluate performance so as to keep the same vision and same orientation within the framework of government action.

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