Monitoring methodology on housing administrative and judicial practices in Cameroon

Monday 7 September 2009 by Assoal

Jules Dumas Nguebou
ASSOAL

Administrative and political context in Cameroon

Geographical situation: central Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea region.
Area: 475 000 Km2
Population: around 16,000,000 inhabitants
Administrative organization: 10 provinces or regions, 58 “Départements”, around 432 towns
Poverty: a general phenomenon with 40% of the population living with less than a dollar a day.

Yaoundé Context

Population growth: 5,3% per year
The number of Yaoundé’s inhabitants increased from 2,184,142 in 1987 to 3,968,919 nowadays
Horizontal and anarchical urbanization
No title deed: less than 10% of titled parcels
Neighborhood inhabitants’ unawareness of the procedures to obtain a property right
Since 2007, local authorities have been demolishing spontaneous settlements (demolition of houses; forced evictions, etc.)‏

Habitat and housing issues

Weak political vision: absence or little consideration on the part of the State of social matters in public policies, in terms of housing and land or general habitat management.
Problems of governance: poor public services culture, little adherence to transparency, participation and accountability principles.
Conflict of expertise between the services in charge of habitat, land and housing management; appearance of corruption (e.g. Crédit Foncier and MAETUR cases, etc.); opaqueness of administrations that communicate little and are not well prepared for public service; some officials’ willful withholding of information, solving of land conflicts on a case by case basis (the arbitrariness as a working rule), etc.
Poverty and tribal conflicts.

The goals of ASSOAL and the Réseau National des Habitants du Cameroun - RNHC (National Network of People Living in Cameroon)

Facilitate the access to a decent habitat and to basic social services for people living in poor neighborhoods.

Methods to monitor administrative practices

1.Conduct a study on the land status of spontaneous settlements, social capital and social and environmental risk factors.
2.Set up and run legal clinics providing information and citizenship education (CIJEC)‏
3.Organize associations, networks, community mutual insurance companies and social housing cooperatives
4.Create and implement a program of assistance and services and title deeds claim
5.Create and implement a program of advocacy, monitoring and capitalization of skills

1. Study on the land status

Investigation to identify beneficiaries and partners
Documentary analysis conducted within the communities, chefferies, towns and land administration, and among landowners
Research work to determine the property map
Focus group with the beneficiaries: check and reformulate all the working hypotheses and find solutions
Feedback to the concerned population and partners
Identification of the constraints and difficulties specific to each mapped habitat and validation of possible solutions
Drafting of the study report
Replication and circulation of the report to the stakeholders

2. Create and run the CIJEC and Itinerant Citizenship Universities

Creation of working groups per neighborhood
Mobilization of resource people
Creation of awareness raising material
Planning of awareness raising meetings
Identification of monitoring requests
Drafting of the case sheets and reports
Circulation of the reports

3. Organize and structure the claims

Set up consultation spaces
Establish benchmarks
Determine projects’ feasibility
Draw up a business plan
Structure the organizations
Start up activities
Monitor and assess the acquired knowledge

4. Provide assistance in the claim

Mobilization of resource people
Welcome of people and case studies
Social mediation
Cases and messages development
Presentation of the cases and messages
Information provided to, and contact with the media
Collection and dissemination of exemplary cases and abuses

5. Advocacy or means to improve advocacy

Develop a synthesis of all the case studies
Draft a synthesis report
Organize a national workshop and feedback meetings
Create a habitat group
Develop an action plan
Create a consultation framework with public authorities
Analyze, develop and suggest a national strategic plan
Analyze, develop and suggest legislation and regulations
Develop and implement a capacity building program for stakeholders
Ensure the monitoring and capitalization of the results and changes

Results obtained

Participation in the creation of the Mutual Health Insurance Companies Platform;
Support to the creation of mutual companies and housing cooperatives;
Obtaining of a collective title deed for a group of 24 beneficiaries;
Regularization of another seller’s heredity certificate, and allotment procedure launched for a group of 36 beneficiaries;
Title deed obtaining procedure known and appropriated by around 200 families;
Organization of the dialogue/consultation space between the beneficiaries and authorities in charge of land and town administration;
Widening of the debate on the right to housing and to land within the National Network of People Living in Cameroon (RNHC);
In connection with that result, suggestions of a national habitat and social housing policy for the benefit of inadequately housed people;
Creation of a National Platform of Mutual Companies and Housing Cooperatives Promoters;
Drafting of a methodological guide for the creation, management, monitoring and evaluation of mutual housing companies and housing cooperatives;
Set-up of an assistance desk for mutual housing companies and housing cooperatives;
Social housing program launched on a trial basis (RNHC, Co-Operation and Cultural Action Service - SCAC);‏
Current studies for the development of a national habitat and social housing policy and program (State - financial and technical partners - civil society organizations).

Method-related difficulties

No service and housing policy
Poor financial resources
Lack of time and legal framework
Weak human resources
Weak participation culture
Weak public service culture
Prevailing corruption

Solutions found or means to progress

Take the time necessary to learn, have talks and listen;
Establish consultation and partnership;
Acknowledge all the stakeholders and their roles;
Act in collaboration with the different authorities: launch contradictory dynamics;
Structure and have the affected people express their own needs;
Mobilize resources and finance exemplary actions (multi-partnership)‏
Set up an advocacy and lobbying plan.