National Assembly headquarters in view Archives
Construction works on the site expected to host the new edifice of Cameroon's National Assembly will start by the end of this month, the Vice President of the lawmaking chambers, Hon. Theodore Datouo has said.
Hon. Theodore Datouo, who is President of the follow up committee in charge of the construction of the new National Assembly headquarters, made the announcement July 11 during a press conference in Yaounde.
The project that will cost over FCFA 54 billion will be financed by the Chinese government. China granted Cameroon FCFA 54.5 Billion To Construct new parliamentary building.
On April 18, 2019, Cameroon’s Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT) Alamine Ousman Mey and the political manager and the Charge d’affaires at the Chinese embassy in Yaounde signed the grant agreement.
The new edifice will cover a surface area of 57,500 square meters, according to Minister Alamine Ousamane Mey. It will comprise a main block, a hemicycle and auxiliary structures.
Speaking after the encounter with the Chinese diplomat, Ousmane Mey said: “This is a grant coming from a friend, a long lasting friend, the supporter of Cameroon.”
Talking about the infrastructure, the minister pointed out that: “This is going to be a symbol of our corporation. It is going to change the look of our Yaounde city. This is going to give our parliamentarians the right, appropriate and comfortable environment for their work towards shaping the future of our nation, towards making our country an economy which is an emerging economy.”
The Chinese diplomat on his part described the project as “a symbol of the friendship between Cameroon and China”, adding that the project will start as soon as possible.
Sino-Cameroonian relations are apparently at their best, with President Xi Jinping’s country involved in several construction projects in president Biya’s trouble-laden nation.
But critics say China is very ‘cunning’ and is exploiting Cameroon’s natural resources at an alarming rate that the so-called grants can never compensate.
China also built a similar structure for the African Union in Addis Ababa and it was later on discovered that communication devices were implanted in the building used to spy events at the AU headquarters.
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