Cameroon’s President Paul Biya will soon make 42 years in power and questions have been arising concerning his legacy, especially in the North West Region, one of the country’s 10 regions.
For many who live in the Region, Biya’s legacy in the North West is defined by tears and hardship.
Overgrown with broken promises, the region faces decaying infrastructure, inaccessible roads, scarce access to clean water, and an overstretched healthcare system.
Residents have called out these challenges as signs of neglect, adding to the growing dissatisfaction among the population.
For 41 years now, president Paul Biya who was never elected into his first mandate has been winning elections.
On July 4, 1982, then President Amadou Ahidjo resigned, and Paul Biya, the constitutional successor, took over on November 6 that year.
Since then, Biya has maintained power through several means, including constitutional amendments, appointment of party loyalists, periodic elections and limitations on political opposition.
“Biya surrounded himself with elites as ministers and directors whose job is not to see Cameroon grow, but to maintain him in power through rigging,” said Akwa a hair dressing in Bamenda.
The roads that connect the North West Region to other parts of Cameroon are infamously dilapidated, some virtually impassable during the rainy season.
The Bamenda-Babadjou road, intended to connect the North West to the rest of the country, has remained under construction for years.
Travelers are forced to navigate potholes, muddy stretches, and debris, an ordeal that has led to frequent accidents and disruptions.
“I was travelling for an appointment in Douala once and it failed just around Akum. A trailer got stock in the mud, making it hard for any other vehicle to pass” said one traveller, expressing his frustration.
“We are cut off from the rest of the country,” said Emmanuel, a commercial driver who has worked along the route for over 15 years.
“This road has cost us many lives, accidents, and losses. If it rains, you can’t go anywhere. We feel abandoned and voiceless in our own land.”
Although construction works resumed, there are still very bad spots that keep travellers hostage for long hours.
Access to clean, drinkable water is a constant struggle for the residents of Bamenda and surrounding towns.
Most communities rely on water from streams and rivers, which are often contaminated.
The city of Bamenda, with an estimated population of over 500,000, faces chronic water shortages, especially during the dry season.
“Every day, we wake up early to queue up for water,” shared Mrs. Ngong, a resident of Behind Che in Bamenda.
“The government has left us to fend for ourselves, so we walk miles just to find water, and it’s not even safe for drinking.”
During the wet season, residents have muddy water flow from their taps.
“For more than 10 years, we have had muddy water flow from our taps,” shared Akuro, a resident of Travellers, Bamenda.
“Public taps that used to exist around town have all disappeared, yet CAMWATER is still operating an office, even when we lack potable water,” he added.
Bamenda residents have resorted to digging boreholes, for those who can afford, and purify the water by filtering.
The region also suffers from erratic electricity supply, with frequent power cuts disrupting daily life even for months.
Rose, a fish vendor in Nkwen, has had to switch businesses due to unreliable electricity supply.
“I used to roast fish but today I moved from one market to the other buying and selling goods,” she told MMI.
“My fish used to get bad due to low voltage or lack of electricity,” she added.
The lack of electricity has stifled small businesses and left children studying by candlelight, limiting opportunities for economic and educational growth.
The North West region is endowed with the Menchum fall.
According to initial studies, the Menchum fall could contribute 90 to 100 megawatts of electricity, enough to drive industrial activities in the North West Region and beyond.
However, bureaucratic delays and inability to secure funds have hindered progress, leaving construction works at the Menchum fall at the planning stage.
This has left schools, and hospitals all struggling to operate without reliable power.
“In 2020, my husband’s scan result was made available only after he had died. We were told that the scanner of the Bamenda Regional Hospital was experiencing low voltage,” said Vero a widow from Batibo.
In the North West Region, public health experts applaud Paul Biya for opening up more healthcare facilities.
The Head of State is also celebrated for the Universal Health Coverage, which has reduced the burden on the population.
Despite the creation of these health facilities, infrastructure and trained personnel are grossly insufficient.
The North West Regional Assembly is building an emergency unit at the Bamenda Regional Hospital.
Upon completion, the facility is expected to decongest hospital wards, though contributing to overcrowding the hospital premises.
Across the region, some healthcare facilities like the Integrated Health Center in Bafmen, Menchum Division lack an incubator, costing families their newly born babies.
“In March 2020, I gave birth to triplets prematurely. Unfortunately they all died. There was no incubator at the health center in Bafmen so local means could not preserve the babies,” said Edith, a woman who lost her triplets at the time.
In the face of the challenges in healthcare delivery in the region, and the shortage of staff, the Bamenda referral and teaching hospital, whose foundation stone was laid by the then Minister of Public Health, André Mama Fouda, has never been completed.
The abandoned iron rods and raised walls of the hospital project now serve as a painful reminder of the unmet promises of the Biya administration.
The facility, initially projected to provide comprehensive medical care for the region, remains an incomplete shell after years of halted construction.
In interviews with some community leaders, local council members, and residents, the call for change and investment in infrastructure was unanimous.
Mr. Tumenta, a teacher, summarized the collective sentiment: “We have been left to suffer, and it’s time for change. Roads, water, electricity, healthcare, are basic rights, and we have been denied them for too long under Biya.”
For now, the people of the North West Region remain resilient in the face of neglect, but the legacy of hardship, poor infrastructural, economic and social development under President Biya’s administration continues to loom over the region.
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