Analysis on the reality of popular participation at the national level : the case of Cameroon

Abstract

In Cameroon, official speeches extensively and frequently refer to the people's participation an development. For an example, I would like to quote from a speech made by the President of the Republic on 4 November 1981 during the presentation of the Fifth Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan (1981-1986) to the National Assembly: "To devise a policy that considers all aspects of national life ... presupposes that the guidelines of planning, just as the objectives and programmes that make up these plans, are discussed and prepared with the active participation of the people's assemblies which are the democratically elected institutions of the Nation".