Behind the official speeches, failing local taxation empties decentralization of its substance in Cameroon. Deprived of real resources, the CTDs remain dependent on an omnipresent central State.
Could Cameroonian decentralization be an illusion? On paper, the Decentralized Territorial Collectivities (CTDs) have broad powers and proclaimed autonomy. In practice, this autonomy faces a major obstacle: the persistent ineffectiveness of the local taxation law. “We move from the realm of power to that of possession,” concludes Peggy Kuate Todom, PhD in political science at the University of Dschang, highlighting a deep imbalance between transferred powers and actually available means.
Because without sufficient resources, financial autonomy remains a slogan. Local revenues, weak and insecure, allow neither reliable planning nor sustainable investments. In 2025, many CTDs were forced to abandon their projects funded from their own funds due to lack of cash flow. They have turned to Public Investment Budget credits, whose use is strictly directed. “Financial resources are the engine of investment,” the author reminds us. Provided they exist.
This structural deficit fosters a chronic dependence on the central State, contradicting the very spirit of decentralization. The participatory model, based on a bottom-up approach, struggles to establish itself against a still top-down governance. Local authorities, supposed to be engines of development, find themselves confined to the role of executors.
Added to this constraint is weakened financial management, where the scarcity of resources intensifies trade-offs and renunciations. Projects validated in annual investment plans remain unexecuted. “What use is it to have significant financial powers if local authorities only have access to virtual resources?” Peggy Kuate Todom further questions.
Ultimately, the crisis goes beyond the budgetary issue alone. It touches the very credibility of territorial reform. As long as local taxation is not fully operational, decentralization will remain unfinished, and the CTDs, supervised actors, far from meeting the pressing expectations of the populations.
Read more Local taxation: the great political scam
