The Annual General Assembly of the National Order of Civil Engineers (NOCE) was held on February 3, 2018 from 9:30 a.m. in the Conference Room of Hôtel TALOTEL, Bafoussam.

High on the agenda was the oath taking of members newly enrolled into the Roll of the Order, followed by the election of the General Assembly Bureau members after the call for quorum.

The Bureau of the General Assembly, chaired by Engineer EFOUA FONO René Théodore was elected.

Before being adopted at it stood, the agenda proposed by the Council of the Order was the subject of considerable discussions, revolving essentially around the revision of the Internal Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Order and the transitional situation of the term of office of both the Council of the Order and the Auditor.

 I. DISCUSSIONS ON THE INTERNAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

The first reflections of the Council of the Order in view of an improvement of the Internal Rules and Regulations of the Order that was adopted in January 2016 in Kribi and endorsed by the Supervisory authority in December 2016 were initially submitted.

Following several inputs from Civil engineers on the Internal Rules and Regulations of the Order and on the conditions for their implementation, the Chair of the Order took the floor to shed more light on the recommendations of the Supervisory authority on the creation of an ad hoc Committee for the revision of the IRR particularly in relation to the electoral process. He further recalled that by virtue of a decision signed by himself such Committee has been put in place and is facing financial constraints relating to its 2017 operating budget. Following a request to bear these costs submitted by the Committee to the Supervisory authority, the latter has pledged 20 million CFA francs as support for the revision process.

With these clarifications, Civil engineers decided to enter the sum of 20 million CFA francs earmarked for the revision of the internal Rules and Regulations of the Order into the 2018 budget of the Order. The activity was supposed to be carried out forthwith and not upon effective release of the funds by the Ministry of Public Works.

A roadmap to the end of the transition period of the term of office of the Council of the Order was drawn up. It will lead to the convening of an Extraordinary General Assembly scheduled late June 2018 for the review and adoption of the IRR. Thus, elections might hold in the course of the next Ordinary General Assembly planned for 2019.

Validation of the roadmap by the General Assembly resulted in the extension of the mandates of the current members of both the Council of the Order and the auditor until the next elections.

 II. 2017 PROGRESS REPORT

The floor was then given to the Chairperson of the Order, Eng. NGOA Kizito for the presentation of the Council’s 2017 progress report. He was assisted by Engineers. TCHOUPLAOU and AZOLA AZOLA Charles, respectively Deputy Secretary General and Treasurer of the Order to enlighten members on the activities conducted and balance sheet of the Order during the period under review.

1. Activities conducted
Presentation of actions conducted in 2017 revealed that the Council of the Order has effectively carried out its missions, highlighted by the following:

• Publication of the roll of the Order featuring only the names, in alphabetical order, of civil engineers up to date with their contributions;
• Completion of the assessment of institutions for the initial training of engineers. Assessment report is available;
• Monitoring the implementation of the regulation on the continuous training of engineers;
• Publication and dissemination of the first socio-professional survey on Civil engineers;
• Placement of several young Civil engineers in State-owned and private enterprises;
• Conspicuous participation of over 100 Civil engineers at BATIMAT 2017 in Paris, France ;
• Greater contribution of the Order in committees, workshops, debates and reflections on civil engineering-related matters;
• Presence of representatives of the Order in the Board of Directors of ENSTP, Yaoundé and ENSPM, Maroua;
• Participation of the Order in building permit review panels and in steering committees for land use planning;
• Attendance to Council working sessions (47th session at the headquarters).

Following the presentation, answers to previous questions revealed that though much was done, much was still to be achieved. These include: conditions for the implementation of the law, those relating to the practice of the profession of civil engineer… During the ensuing discussions, the Council of the Order threw more light on actions carried out in 2017. This prompted General Assembly to endorse the report on activities presented.

2. 2017 Balance Sheet
From the onset, the Chairperson disclosed that the sum of 20 million CFA francs pledged by the Supervisory authority to set up the ad hoc Committee that will revise the IRR and provide assistance to an independent expert was not released by late 2017.

In the same vein, payment of the annual contributions of Civil Engineers worth 25 million CFA francs, pledged since 2015 by the Ministry of Public Works has never been made.

These situations have negatively impacted the cash flow of the Order.

The President of the Order provided further information to these concerns by stating that the Council of the Order charted a prudent course in its 2017 activities, the more so as its legitimacy could raise questions. He further disclosed that requisite funds for the construction of the Order’s headquarter building considerably exceed the existing financial resources of the Order. However, he went on, the Council of the Order remains sensitive to any concrete proposals for making efficient use of the resources of the Order.

3. Auditor’s report
Before validating the financial statements, the floor was given to Auditor NDJOCK Joseph, Eng. who opened his presentation by deploring the fact that all NOCE regional representatives show no proofs of their operating expenditures.

Besides, the Auditor was able to make an inventory of the available physical assets of the Order, assess improvement of procedures and verify the effectiveness of operations carried out in 2017.

Since his figures were consistent with those in the financial statement of the Council of the Order he proposed to the General Assembly to grant discharge to the Council of the Order for its management.

4. General Assembly discharge
Having reviewed both the progress report submitted by the Council of the Order and the 2017 financial statements and taken note of the report and the favourable opinion of the Auditor, the General Assembly granted discharge by acclamation to the Council of the Order for its sound management during the 2017 financial year.

III. REVIEW AND ADOPTION OF THE 2018 ACTION PROGRAMME AND RELATED BUDGET

Details of the 2018 action programme were presented to the General Assembly by the Chair of the Order.

Priority activities carried out in 2018 shall include: main ongoing projects engaged, relating to the harmonisation of initial training to Civil engineers, development of the provision of continuous training to Civil engineers, distinctions and grades to engineers and the development of regional representations. In a nutshell, 2018 activities are geared towards cleaning up the civil engineering corps, building the capacities of its members, enhancing the profession and extending its professional network.

Presentation of the 2018 action programme led to fruitful discussions. It was specifically requested to grant priority to expenses on reflections and validation of the Internal Rules and Regulations following the roadmap proposed in agenda item 1 above, pending release of the support pledged by the Supervisory authority.

After the discussions, the programme was unanimously adopted by the General Assembly.

Draft 2018 budget was presented and commented upon by the Chair of the Order assisted by the Treasurer.
The budget, which registered a 10 million CFA francs increase in comparison to that of the previous year and effectively mainstreamed recommendations on the Internal Rules and Regulations, was adopted as it stood by the General Assembly.

IV. MISCELLANEOUS

This provided an opportunity to some Civil engineers who so wished, to freely express their opinions on various topics relating to the building and public works field or to the issuance of the engineer’s stamp.

The deliberations of the General Assembly, which took place in an atmosphere of newfound serenity among Civil engineers came to a close at 4:30 p.m. with all participants singing the National Anthem of our beautiful and beloved country Cameroon.

Done in Bafoussam, on February 3, 2018

Rapporteurs
NOUGANG Viviane Gertrude, Eng.
KAMGOUM KENFACK Bonaventure, Eng.

President of the General Assembly
René Théodore EFOUA FONO, Eng.