The Senators of Gabon and the members of the Committee on Finance, Budget and Accounts of the Senate, have suspended the hearing, in one of the rooms of this upper house, the Minister of State, in charge of the Budget, Fidele Otandault for cause non-payment of the arrears of session expenses and condition the resumption of work in the hemicycle to the settlement of these arrears. This situation also affects Senate staff.
This Friday, reacting on the spot, the Ministry of Budget has, in a statement, made it clear that “the government has paid 1400 million CFA francs for the months of August and September. It remains to regularize the expenses of the 2nd ordinary session (Senators + staff) for an amount of 996 million 640 thousand francs CFA “.
“It was expected that we will hear the Minister of State in charge of the Budget on his statement of reasons for the draft Finance Act 2018, but in view that our situation does not allow us, and the Minister himself knows why, I suggested that we put all this back to a next time, “said André Richard Moussounda Mikala, the chairman of the said Commission.
Recall that the meeting between the Minister of State and senators concerned the examination of the draft law of 2017 and that initially arrested in equilibrium at 2860 billion CFA francs, the budget for the year 2017 finally increased 233.99 billion CFA francs compared to the level of resources and charges provided for in the 2016 Finance Law.
In total the State owes 996, 64 million F CFA to the Upper House. Hence the boycott maintained by the senators. A first in the country.
