Mayor Wandum Ernest of Bali
Councillors of Bali council have voted the 2026 budget of the council balanced in income and expenditure at 915.5 million Francs CFA. The budget witnesses a 95 million increase in absolute terms and 8.9% in relative terms.
Speaking as he chaired the session, the Mayor of Bali said the budget was realistic and attainable despite a drastic drop in the allocations of the public investment budget.
Mayor Wandum speaking to the press
Mayor Wandum Ernest said the budget was prepared taking four areas into consideration. Infrastructure, Social services, Hygiene and Sanitation and Administrative cost.
Speaking to The Observer, the Mayor said top on his priority for 2025 is the acquisition of a heavy duty equipment (a dump truck) to facilitate the opening of roads in the Municipality.
One of the roads which is of utmost concern is the Bali-Ngyen Mbo- Mbengwi road which has become an alternative road for those in Mbengwi to use to Bamenda.
According to some councillors, the road is of essence as it is almost impassable in the rainy season.
To Mayor Wandum, "the road will be improved upon. What we are doing now is constructing a bridge along the road. When we are done, we will now grade the road and make it passable." Mayor Wandum said.
Councillors
The 2026 budget is the first ever programmed budget that Bali council will be implementing. The budget, the Mayor says was drafted taking into consideration the priorities submitted by the communities during the budget orientation debate.
"We have moved from the results based budget to the programme based budget. This new budget format will help us to achieve specific results, do project monitoring and we can spread projects into different phases. I must say, it is the first time, so we are learning. Our priority is to ensure that the Councillors are trained in this so that they can better examine the budget next time." Mayor Wandum said.
Chi Augustine, DO of Bali
Speaking on behalf of the SDO for Mezam, the Divisional Officer for Bali Central, Chi Augustine called on the councillors to work so that the council could start generating its own revenue.
"The council depends largely on decentralized credits. This cannot take us to the paradise we want in this subdivision. We need to start generating our own revenue as a matter of urgency."
Concerning the security of the subdivision, the Divisional Officer called on the councillors to collaborate with the defense and security forces to stamp out insecurity in subdivision.
"We have had attacks carried out in Bali from fighters resident out of Bali. This is really bad. I have called on the Councillors to work with us to ensure that these attacks don't repeat itself again." Chi Augustine said.
Bali council is now operating within the subdivision for the last six months. A move which the Mayor says has brought back services closer to the population.
By
Ndi Tsembom Elvis
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