« The role of the archivist is a fascinating one: there are few professions whose impact can be said to last for centuries. An archivist must have a passion for history, an eye for detail and a genuine commitment to public service. In return, they look after the collective memory of their society. To do this, as a support function for the administration, he or she must ensure that what is done is consistent with the regulatory corpus in force.
Until a few years ago - and this is still the case for many executives - an assignment to the archives was considered a punishment. In spite of themselves, all the early professionals left the archives to seek better fortunes elsewhere.
In Cameroon, archives have been governed since December 19, 2000 by Law N°2 000/010, backed up by an implementing decree, Decree N°2001/958/P.M of November 1, 2001.
These regulations confirm that the activities that make up the day-to-day life of an archive have a legal origin, or at least a strong legal connotation, linked to the communicability and traceability of documents or their certification. For the public, this is the most obvious evidence.
The legal rules applicable to archives stem from the primacy of administrative law. The present law is an invitation to all civil servants to make the constitution, preservation and conservation of this collective memory their fundamental concern and imperative duty. Unfortunately, twenty-four years on, it is difficult to see what real archival work has been undertaken.
No study or reflection has been carried out to identify the added value of archives in our administrations.
No roadmap for the implementation of this law in the public sector has been drawn up. The only visible signs of progress are the mention of an archive department in the organization charts of government departments, or the swearing-in of a few agents.
Rare are the structures where there is a space dedicated to the conservation of archives which respects the norms governing them. And when this is the case, the location and layout of this space is far from complying with archiving standards. So some people are in prison because there are no archives to exonerate them, and some aren't because there are no documents to prove their actions.
The head of the organization is the true owner of the documents produced or received by his collaborators. One of his or her first duties must be to set up a management system for all information flows.
Law n°2018/011 of July 11, 2018 on the code of transparency and good governance in the management of public finances has strengthened the legal framework for the management of accounting records.
Unfortunately, this law too seems to be neglected by several decision-makers. To better draw their attention, in an article “pleading for the review of appointment acts in Cameroon” we wanted to invite all public finance managers to remind the beneficiaries of appointment acts of their obligations, which must be concomitant with the benefits.
So article 2 should read as follows: The person concerned shall be entitled to the benefits and shall be subject to the obligations provided for by the regulations in force.
At a time when most countries are committed to building their emergence, it is essential to take stock of the current state of the art in the field of archiving, to re-examine training curricula in the light of experience in the field, and to pave the way for bridging the digital divide by taking advantage of the opportunities offered by technology. It is therefore urgent to diagnose the achievements and/or failures of the various experiments, to point out as clearly as possible the challenges to be met in the short and medium term, and to build a genuine “implementation” roadmap for each project identified and matured.
In Africa, the archivist's main mission, rather than building memory or managing heritage documents, should be to ensure that organizations are able to trace administrative documents, whether produced or received.
It's also worth noting that archives are not just a memorial, but also an integral part of governance, an essential aid to decision-making: WHEN DECISIONS ARE MADE, the need for archives is inescapable. In the event of a legal vacuum, case law can only be exploited if previous decisions have been properly archived.
On the one hand, management of the present, preparation for the future, modernization, decentralization and the culture of national unity are at the heart of the actions of African governments.
On the other hand, the new dynamics generated by the digital era, with its various forms of disruptive innovation, are forcing all organizations to face a strategic inflection point, and are forcing us to define new competencies for the archivist.
Based on e-governance, and considering the need to manage hybrid archives, how can we put in place management procedures and tools to bridge the digital divide, and accompany, or even accelerate, the march towards the emergence of our countries?
The strategy for moving towards emergence should include the archiving function.
This archiving function will help us to:
1. Position time as a determining factor in the second phase of the 2035 vision;
2. Set the course - define the route - start the locomotive;
3. Position blockchain as a solution to several current problems in Cameroon;
4. Inhibit the paradox of our administrations.
Information is what drives the Administration, but examples such as unforeseen events, delays in project execution, and poor time management show a lack of control over information traceability in various administrations. The application of fundamental principles of the Administration, such as continuity and mutability of public service, and equality before public service, should lead public service employees to take a different view of document archiving. Since the Administration is written, proper archiving is both a legal and managerial requirement.
We must leverage the subtle power offered by archive systems. It is advantageous to know that setting up an archive management system is generally:
50% organizational;
25% regulatory;
25% computerized.
It is urgent for Cameroon to develop a real strategic plan for archive development. This plan should include the construction of document storage centers, the identification of archive collections to be processed, the evaluation of associated costs, and potential sources of funding. It is important to keep in mind that carrying out all these projects will undoubtedly require a review of training curricula.
Indeed, practical experiences must be drawn upon, relying on three pillars: Process-archives and development.
Victor KAMTO
Expert archivage managérial
+237 696 156 981
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