June 9, 2021, International Archives Day, beyond its celebration calls us more than in the past on the drafting of administrative acts in force today which will become the archives of tomorrow.
Our advocacy for the reform of the texts of appointment in Cameroon aims to challenge the managers who appoint on their obligation to sensitize the appointed executives and the latter on the responsibilities engendered by the acts of appointment, in particular the obligation to report.
Generally, these texts, whether decree or decision, are presented as follows:
The text stamp then follows the visas, following the visas, we have:
Article 1: MR X is from the date …… appointed Director General of the “Société Réforme”
Article 2: The interested party will be entitled to the benefits provided for by the regulations in force.
Article 3: This decree will be registered and published following the emergency procedure; then inserted in the official journal in French and English.
In article 2, it should be said rather: The person concerned will be entitled to benefits and will be bound by the obligations provided for by the regulations in force.
Where appropriate and in view of the international and especially Cameroonian legal environment, we believe that the current article 2 should be added to article 3 supplementing it and the old article 3 would become article 4.
In this new formulation that we suggest, Article 3 would be: The person concerned will be held accountable.
This new article 3 is indeed diluted in other texts of the Republic of Cameroon. These texts most often do not even appear among the visas. These are especially those relating to the obligations of the public accountant, of which the law establishing the Code of transparency and good governance in the management of public finances and the law relating to the financial regime of the State and other public entities in Cameroon prescribe the establishment. internal control within public administrations. Paragraph II of Decree No. 2020/375 of July 7, 20020, laying down general regulations on public accounting, specifies the rights and obligations of the public accountant.
On the one hand, Cameroon’s recent history teaches us that many leaders have not felt constrained to this obligation to report on the subject of public accounting. We have some who have even boasted of having given mission orders to employees to seek treatment, which is undoubtedly a management error.
On the other hand, the archivist’s mission has often rightly or wrongly been reduced to the 4Cs (Collect, Classify, Preserve and Communicate). While it is true that these tasks constitute the core of the archivist’s activities.
On the occasion of this international day, it is appropriate to recall the other two tasks, all as important as the first four which are often neglected:
- Assist in the creation of documents which should be in accordance with texts and procedures and which are not:
- Offer for destruction all documents that are no longer of administrative, historical or statistical interest: Keeping everything does not mean archiving.
This plea aims, as you have understood, to support the actions carried out so far in the protection of public assets and therefore of good governance.
It is good at the time of the appointment to convey the message:
The right to sign is concomitant with the obligation to report. Leaders need to balance the scales. If you are entitled to benefits in accordance with the texts in force, it is utopian that you seem not to be bound by the obligations provided for by the regulations in force.
Victor KAMTO
Managerial archiving expert
696 156 981
Victor.kamto@cinvcorsa.com
