Keywords
decentralisation
local government autonomy
central government control
self-governance
How to Cite
Abstract
Cameroon introduced decentralisation mechanisms in the 1990s, and in 2019, the Code of Regional and Local Authorities was promulgated to transfer greater powers and autonomy to local governments. This qualitative case study investigates the legal frameworks, institutional mechanisms, and fiscal responsibilities defined in the 2019 law to assess the extent of subnational government autonomy. Through the lens of decentralisation framework, this paper contends that some provisions within the 2019 law contain substantial restrictions, undermining the ability of regional and territorial authorities to practice meaningful self-governance. The results suggest that the law promotes the rhetoric of decentralisation, but retains central government control over significant areas of local policy-making, resource distribution, and managerial oversight. This paper settles that the current legal construction of subnational governance in Cameroon is inadequate to achieve the type of decentralised, inclusive system projected, pointing to the need for significant legal reforms to strengthen regional and local authorities.
References
Agwanda, B., Asal, U. Y. (2021). The Anglophone problem in Cameroon – The change from crisis to conflict, and a possible way forward to resolution. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 21(1), 9-34.
Awortwi, N., Helmsing, A. H. J. (2014). In the name of bringing services closer to the people? Explaining the creation of new local government districts in Uganda. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 80(4), 766-788. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852314533455
Lontum, C. (2025). Actors of Decentralization: An Indispensable Factor in the Decentralization Process in Cameroon. HRLRC Online Peer Review Journal. https://hrlrc.org/2025/01/04/actors-of-decentralization-an-indispensable-factor-in-the-decentralization-process-in-cameroon-by-dr-lontum-charles/
Bertelsmann Stiftung (2024). BTI 2024 Country Report – Cameroon. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung. https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/CMR#pos1
Cameroon (1977). Decree No. 77/91 of 25 March 1977 Defining Powers of Supervision over Councils and Council Establishments. https://www.cvuc-uccc.com/minat/textes/103.pdf
Cameroon (1996). Law No. 96/06 of 18 January 1996 on the Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon. https://www.prc.cm/en/multimedia/documents/6285-loi-n-96-06-du-18-01-1996-revision-constitution-1972-en
Cameroon (2004). Law No. 2004/017 of 22 July 2004 on the Orientation of Decentralisation. https://www.cvuc-uccc.com/minat/textes/13.pdf.
Cameroon (2009). Law No. 2009/019 of 10 July 2009 Relating to Financial Regime of Regional and Local Authorities. https://www.cvuc-uccc.com/minat/textes/193.pdf.
Cameroon (2019). Law No. 2019/024 of 24 December 2019 on the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities. http://www.minjustice.gov.cm/index.php/en/instruments-and-laws/laws/298-law-no-2019-024-of-24-december-2019-bill-to-institute-the-general-code-of-regional-and-local-authorities.
Cheka, C. (2007). The state of the process of decentralisation in Cameroon. Africa Development, 32(2), 181-196. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/afrdevafrdev.32.2.181.pdf
Croese, S., Oloko, M., Simon, D., Valencia, S. C. (2021). Bringing the global to the local: The challenges of multi-level governance for global policy implementation in Africa. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 13(3), 435-447.
Demanou, R. (2018). Les Pouvoirs Traditionnels Monarchiques Face à la Décentralisation au Cameroun: Logiques et Stratégies d’Acteurs dans les Arènes Politiques Locales du Royaume Bamoun (Région de l’Ouest). PhD diss., Université Catholique.
Dickovick, J. T. (2014). Decentralization in Africa: Sequences and political incentives. Washington and Lee University.
Dick-Sagoe, C. (2020). Decentralization for improving the provision of public services in developing countries: A critical review. Cogent Economics & Finance, 8(1), 1804036. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2020.1804036
Dobinson, I., Johns, F. (2017). Legal research as qualitative research. In M. McConville, W. H. Chui (Eds.), Research methods for law, 2nd ed. 18-47. Edinburg University Press. http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/26898/1/64.pdf
Eyoh, D., Stren, R. E., eds. (2007). Decentralization and the politics of urban development in west Africa. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/Stren.pdf
Faguet, JP., Shami, M. (2022). The incoherence of institutional reform: Decentralization as a structural solution to immediate political needs Studies in Comparative International Development, 57(1) 82-112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-021-09347-4
Falleti, T. G. (2004). A sequential theory of decentralization and its effects on the intergovernmental balance of power: Latin American cases in comparative perspective. https://kellogg.nd.edu/sites/default/files/old_files/documents/314_0.pdf.
Falleti, T. G. (2005). A sequential theory of decentralization: Latin American cases in comparative perspective. American political science review, 99(3), 327-346. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/30038943.pdf
Fanso, V. G. (2017), Cameroon history for secondary schools and colleges. From pre-historic times to the Twenty-first Century (Revised and Updated Combined Edition). Work Press
Fombad, C. (2019). Cameroon and the Anomalies of Decentralization with a Centralist Mindset. In: C. Fombad, N. Steytler (Eds.), Decentralization and Constitutionalism in Africa, 326-364. Oxford University Press.
Terry, G., Hayfield, N. Clarke, V., Braun, V. (2017). Thematic analysis. The SAGE handbook of qualitative research in psychology, (17-37).
Adama, H. (2020). The Challenges of Decentralized Management of the Ngoyla-Mintom Forest Massif (South-East Cameroon). International Journal of Forest, Animal and Fisheries Research 4(4) 46-51. https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijfaf.4.4.1
Houdret, A., Harnisch, A. (2019). Decentralisation in Morocco: a solution to the ‘Arab Spring’?. The Journal of North African Studies, 246(6) 935-960. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2018.1457958
Hutchinson, T., Duncan, N. (2012). Defining and Describing What We Do: Doctrinal Legal Research. Deakin Law Review 17(1) 83-119. https://doi.org/10.21153/dlr2012vol17no1art70
Takougang, J. (2003). The 2002 legislative election in Cameroon: a retrospective on Cameroon's stalled democracy movement. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 41(3), 421-435. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3876238.pdf
Kaze. T., Saturnin, N., Ndukong, A. (2023). The Internationalization of Local Government’s Actions in Cameroon: Opportunities and Challenges. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Sciences, 7(9), 1039-1051. https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.70990
Kis-Katos, K., Sjahrir, B. S. (2017). The Impact of Fiscal and Political Decentralization on Local Public Investment in Indonesia. Journal of Comparative Economics 45(2), 344-365. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JCE.2017.02.003
Kofele-Kale, N. (2011). Local governance under Cameroon’s decentralisation regime: is it all sound and fury signifying nothing?. Commonwealth Law Bulletin, 37(3), 513-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050718.2011.595149
Konings, P., Nyamnjoh, F. B. (2003). Negotiating an Anglophone identity: A study of the politics of recognition and representation in Cameroon (Vol. 1). Brill.
Konings, P. (1996). The post-colonial state and economic and political reforms in Cameroon. In A.E. Fernández Jilberto, A. Mommen (Eds.) Liberalization in the developing world: Institutional and Economic Changes in Latin America, Africa and Asia (pp. 244-265). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203030066
Lameck, W. U. (2023). Political decentralisation and political-administrative relation in the local councils in Tanzania. Public Administration and Policy 26(3), 335-344. https://doi.org/10.1108/PAP-07-2022-0077
Lubuulwa, K. B. (2021). Putting decentralisation policy into practice in Uganda: a participatory action research study of local government empowerment for local economic development. PhD diss., University of Tasmania. https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Putting_decentralisation_policy_into_practice_in_Uganda_a_participatory_action_research_study_of_local_government_empowerment_for_local_economic_development/23249999/1?file=40973888
Makara, S. (2018). Decentralisation and good governance in Africa: A critical review. African Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 12(2), 22-32. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJPSIR2016.0973
Martínez‐Vázquez J., Santaigo, L., Sacchi, A. (2017). The impact of fiscal decentralization: A survey. Journal of Economic Surveys, 31(4), 1095-1129. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12182
Mekolle, P. M. (2018). Decentralization and the Financing of Access to Secondary Education in Cameroon: Community Contributions Counts? European Journal of Education, 5(2), 52-99. https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v0i0.1936
Mugavu, G., Mucunguzi, A. (2024). Operationalization of the decentralized policy framework in Uganda: An examination of the key milestones & challenges. Asian Journal of Social Science and Management Technology, 6(2), 167-174.
Mukhlis, M. M. Maskun., Tajuddin, M. S., Andriani, D., Muchtasar, R., & Masum, A. (2025). Regional Government Autonomy in Indonesia: The Ambiguity of the Federalism or Republic Model. Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law, 13(1), 35-57. https://doi.org/10.33102/mjsl.vol13no1.760
Ndiyun, R, K., Mukonza, R, M. (2025). Cameroon: Façade of Autonomy? The Special Status as A Solution to The Anglophone Crisis. Conflict Studies Quarterly, (50). 72-94. https://doi.org/10.24193/csq.50.4
Ntsam, M. (2023). La part de la commune, la part de la région dans le transfert de compétences en droit de la décentralisation au Cameroun. Revue Africaine et Malgache de Recherches Scientifiques: Sciences Juridiques et Politiques, 1, 232-267. http://publication.lecames.org/index.php/jur/article/view/18298
Nyikadzino, T., Vyas-Doorgapersad, S. (2022). Decentralisation and central government control: experiences from the local government reform in Zimbabwe. African Journal of Governance and Development 11(1.2) 213-232. https://doi.org/10.36369/2616-9045/2022/v11si2a1
Ogunnubi, O. O. (2022). Decentralisation and local governance in Nigeria: issues, challenges and prospects. Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, 27, 5-16. https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.874011114779044
Okorie, C. O., Nwosu, C. P., Arua, C. C., Aloh, J. N. (2023). Understanding decentralization within local governments in a democratized Nigeria: perspectives and challenges. Journal of Policy and Development Studies, 14(1), 82-102.
Okwori, M. W. (2022). Effects of decentralization on ethnic conflict resolution in South Sudan: A case study of Juba county. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 6(1), 100369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2022.100369
Quirk, W. P., Montemarano, D. (2020). Stabilizing Cameroon requires a sustained solution for democracy, rights, and governance, Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/stabilizing-cameroon-requires-a-sustained-solution-for-democracy-rights-and-governance/
Ricart-Huguet, J., Sellars, E. A. (2023). The politics of decentralization level: Local and regional devolution as substitutes. World Politics, 75(2), 353-389.
Riedl, R. B., Dickovick, T. (2010). Comparative assessment of decentralization in Africa: final report and summary of findings. https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADX211.pdf
Rugeiyamu, R., Msendo, A. (2025). Success, challenges and prospects of decentralization in Africa: a systematic review. Cogent Social Sciences, 11(1), 2458700.
Shair-Rosenfield, S. (2025). Decentralisation, intergovernmental coordination, and response to extreme events in Southeast Asia. Regional Studies, 59(1), 2319716.
Mohmand, S. K., Loureiro, M. (2017). Introduction: interrogating decentralisation in Africa. IDS Bulletin, 48(2) 1-16. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/132609014.pdf
Smith, B. C. (2023). Decentralization: A Territorial Dimension of the State. Routledge.
Smoke, P. (2015). Rethinking decentralization: Assessing challenges to a popular public sector reform. Public Administration and Development, 35(2), 97-112. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1703
Song, V. Y., Vevanje, F. N. (2023). An evaluation of decentralization in Cameroon: A historical appraisal since 1996. International Journal of History and Cultural Studies, 9(2), 1-13.
Takougang, J. (2019). African State and Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's political crossroads. Routledge.
Tunio F. H., Nabi, A. A. (2021). Political decentralization, fiscal centralization, and its consequences in case of Pakistan. Cogent Social Sciences, 7(1), 924-949.
Vargas Falla, A. M., Mackay, H., Andersson, A., Mukwaya, P. I., Mugagga, F. (2025). Decentralisation and Legal Pluralism in Small Towns in Uganda. Public Administration and Development. 45(4). 332-343. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/pad.2110
Vollmann, E., Bohn, M., Sturm, R., Demmelhuber, T. (2022). Decentralisation as authoritarian upgrading? Evidence from Jordan and Morocco. The Journal of North African Studies, 27(2), 362-393.
Voufo, T. N., Tametong, S. (2021). Testing the financial decentralisation of local governments against the principle of a unified of a unified treasury in Cameroon. The Nkafu Institute. https://nkafu.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Testing-The-Financial-Decentralization-Of-Local-Governments-Against-The-Principle-Of-A-Unified-Treasury-In-Cameroon-.pdf
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and Method, Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Yombi, G. Y., Chouaïbou, M., Agoume, L. Y. (2019). Decentralized territorial communities and implementation of public policies: The case of Cameroon. In B. Açıkgöz (Ed.), Public Economics and Finance. IntechOpen. https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/63402
Zarychta, A., Benedum, M. E., Sanchez, E., Andersson, K. P. (2024). Decentralization and corruption in public service delivery: Local institutional arrangements that can help reduce governance risks. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 34(2), 238-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2020.1787837
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Humanities and Social Sciences