The 1972 Constitution which was revised in 1996 provided a framework for decentralisation thereby moving Cameroon from a highly centralized state to a decentralized unitary state consisting of local councils and regions. In 2004, three important laws were promulgated: the law on the orientation of decentralisation; law on local councils and the law on regions. For the laws to be implemented, the central government had to transfer some responsibilities and resources to the local entities. Two structures were created on January 17, 2008 to oversee the implementation: the National Council of Decentralisation and the Inter-ministerial Committee for Local Services. Now Cameroon consists out of ten provinces followed by 58 departments and a further subdivision in various types of local authorities or councils. These are rural (306), urban (11), special status urban councils (9), city councils (2) and sub-divisional urban councils (11).
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Local elections were organized in 2007 whilst the decree to implement the 2004 laws had not been signed. The Senate which is supposed to represent the local councils has not also been put in place since then. Regional governors are still being appointed by the central government. There also exists a system in which some councils have special status. These are the big cities with so-called City Councils. The City councils are divided into district councils. The local executives of the City Councils are appointed by Presidential decree and do not respect any limited mandate. Those of the district councils are elected for a period of five years just like the other councils in the whole republic.
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These entities are under the supervision of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation. Since the beginning of 2010, there is the political will to advance in the implementation of the policy of Decentralisation in Cameroon. In part through training programmes and the availability of funds such as the Special Funds for Equipment and Intercommunal Intervention (FEICOM) and the Education Center for Municipal Administration (CEFAM) training municipal officials to perform their tasks more efficiently.
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