Benin/ANCB Bureau press conference. President Luc Sètondji ATROKPO reiterates the commitment of mayors to accompany the implementation of the code of territorial administration and the PAG2
The leaders of the National Association of Benin Municipalities were before the press this Friday, January 14, 2022 at the headquarters of the association. In the presence of the mayors of Banikoara Tamou Bio SARAKO, of Houéyogbé Cyriaque DOMINGO, of Porto-Novo Charlemagne YANKOTY, of Ouidah Christian HOUETCHENOU, of Abomey Louis DJEDOU, of Pobè Simon Adébayo DINAN and of Toviklin Rigobert TOZO, the president of the ANCB and mayor of Cotonou Luc Sètondji ATROKPO delivered the position of the communal actors on the law N°2021-14 of 20 December 2021 on the Code of Territorial Administration in the Republic of Benin.
"However, it is important to remember that the reforms, whose relevance we unanimously appreciate, come at the end of a diagnosis that identified major shortcomings in the organization and functioning of local governments in our country. This is why all the actors were of the opinion that it is necessary to go for courageous structural reforms to allow our communes to truly begin to our communes to truly take the development turn," said the president of the Benin communes' umbrella organization. He then reiterated the availability and commitment of the mayors to accompany the Government and its Head for the good progress of the noble ideals they carry for local development in Benin.
The president of the ANCB ended by welcoming "the many structuring projects planned in the Government's Action Programme (PAG 2021-2026) and whose implementation will undoubtedly contribute to the modernization of our communes".
Read the full statement
Abomey-Calavi, January 14. 2022
Ladies and Gentlemen Mayors,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the press,
Dear guests,
On January 4, 2022, President Patrice TALON received in audience a delegation of the Bureau of the National Association of Benin Municipalities.
On this occasion, the President of the Republic clearly explained to us the data concerning the classification of communes, as provided for by law 2021-14 of 20 December 2021 on the Code ofAdministration in the Republic of Benin, as well as the measures taken by the Government for an effective and participatory implementation of the reform of the decentralization sector in our country.
All the Mayors of Benin were also invited on Thursday, January 13, 2021, to a presentation session of the Government's Action Program (PAG 2021-2026).
Open to other institutions of the Republic, this session allowed us to discover the numerous reforms and large-scale projects planned by the Government for the second five-year term of President Patrice TALON.
The present press briefing, through your precious channels, aims on the one hand, to report to the Beninese people on the exchanges we had with the Head of State and on the other hand, to give the position of the Mayors on the Territorial Administration Code.
We will end with an assessment of the PAG 2021-2026.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the press
I would like to begin by outlining some of the innovations contained in Law 2021-14 on the Code of Territorial Administration in the Republic of Benin.
However, it is important to remember that the reforms, the relevance of which we unanimously appreciate, are the result of a diagnosis that revealed major shortcomings in the organization and functioning of local administrations in our country.
This is why all the actors were of the opinion that it is necessary to go for courageous structural reforms to allow our communes to really take the turn of development.
The aim of this reform is therefore to improve the quality of governance of our communal administrations and to depoliticize them.
This brings me to the first point of my speech, namely the report of the meeting we had with the Head of State.
This first point concerns the classification of communes.
In Benin, we now have three categories of communes:
communes with special status (Cotonou, Porto-Novo, Parakou and Abomey-Calavi, which has just acquired this status)
communes of intermediate status, of which there are 19, and which are essentially communes that are departmental capitals and certain communes of economic, demographic and historical importance
and finally, the communes of the ordinary type, which are the most numerous, 54 in all, including rural communes, lakeside communes, etc.
This new classification, which, it should be recalled, is part of the proposals resulting from a national consultation of communal actors initiated by the ANCB in 2017, has the advantage of promoting support tailored to each commune according to its category.
The Government will provide each commune with qualified personnel adapted to its needs according to the category to which it belongs and the challenges it faces.
As we all know by now, the communes have a new organizational structure that involves two new bodies, the Supervisory Board and the Executive Secretariat.
As stated in Article 55 of the Code, and I quote:
"The commune has political bodies and an administrative and technical body.
The Communal Council and the Supervisory Board are the political organs of the commune.
The executive secretariat is the administrative and technical organ of the commune. End of quote.
One of the important measures taken by the Government to correct a kind of injustice that dates back to the beginning of the decentralization process in our country is the introduction of remuneration for elected officials.
From now on, the Mayor, the Deputy Mayors, the Presidents of the Permanent Commission, the Heads of Arrondissement, the municipal and communal elected officials as well as the Village and City Neighborhood Chiefs will benefit from a remuneration, the amount of which varies according to the communes.
The government will also provide the mayors with official vehicles.
These are unprecedented measures since the start of decentralization in our country and all the elected officials to whom we have reported have praised President Patrice TALON's efforts to strengthen decentralization in our country.
As I said earlier, each commune, depending on its category, will be provided with qualified personnel, and the recruitment process for the main communal functions will be launched shortly by the ANCB, with the support of the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Governance.
In addition, there are many structuring projects planned in the Government Action Program (PAG 2021-2026), the implementation of which will undoubtedly contribute to the modernization of our communes.
Indeed, in addition to the reforms announced to improve local governance, there are plans to create a Communal Investment Fund to replace the FADEC, which will be endowed with subsequent resources to enable the construction of large-scale infrastructure in all the communes in our country, the creation of a new local government fund, and the creation of a new local authority.This fund will be endowed with the resources needed to build large-scale infrastructure in all of our country's communes, promote inter-communal cooperation to better deal with the problems common to our territories, build the Local Administration Training Center (Cefal), build and equip the 12 departmental administrative cities, etc.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the press,
The ANCB is honored to have been intimately associated with each stage of this process.
And the Mayors, through me, express their sincere gratitude to President Patrice TALON for his vision and commitment to improving local governance and the efficiency of local administration.
We take this opportunity to reiterate our availability and our commitment to accompany the Government and its Leader for the good progress of the noble ideals they carry for local development in our country.
We also express our gratitude to the Institutions of the Republic, to the Honourable Members of the National Assembly, to the different actors who contributed to the advent of the Code of Territorial Administration as well as to the populations at the grassroots for their constant support.
I cannot end my speech without wishing you, as is customary at the beginning of the year, my best wishes for health, peace and social progress in the new year.
The best to all of you.
I thank you all.
