Senate : Settlement, Three Other Bills Received

Some four bills have been tabled at the Senate. This was during a plenary sitting chaired by the Senate President, Marcel Niat Njifenji on November 21, 2022. The said bills include the Settlement Bill for the 2021 financial year, Cameroon’s accession to the Africa Finance Corporation, general cooperation between Cameroon and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and enhancing safety of maritime navigation and platforms. The tabled legal documents have already been adopted at the National Assembly and is being forwarded for a second reading. 
The Settlement Bill contains four major parts and presents the execution of the State budget in income and expenditure for the 2021 financial year. It presents the implementation context (considering internal and external factors), overall execution rate, budget deficit and coverage of the 2021 State budget financing need. The 2021 Finance Law provided for a State budget balanced in revenue and expenditure at FCFA 5,480.4 billion, that is FCFA 5,235.2 billion for the general budget and FCFA 245.2 billion for Special Appropriation Accounts. 
Another Bill tabled authorises the President of the Republic to ratify the General Cooperation Agreement between Cameroon and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, signed in Yaounde on November 10, 2021. The document aims at consolidating longstanding ties between the two nations, and develop bilateral cooperation in the areas of investment, trade, education, economy, science, culture, tourism, sports, security and the fight against terrorism. The bill justifies that ratifying the Agreement which ties with Cameroon’s foreign policy, is of strategic importance given Saudi Arabia’s weight ...