Health Minister Promises Restart of Buea Referral Hospital Construction

Abandoned for seven years, the Buea referral hospital project may finally resume—at least according to the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Manaouda Malachie, who was in Buea on Friday, just weeks before presidential elections.

The Minister’s announcement, coming barely two months to the polls, has stirred debate over whether this is a genuine move or another political stunt to secure President Paul Biya’s re-election.

The 92-year-old, who is the world’s oldest sitting president, has not been seen campaigning himself, and has left the task to ministers and government officials.

In Buea, Dr. Manaouda inaugurated a Chronic Kidney Disease Screening Project run by the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, before making a rare stop at the abandoned referral hospital project site in Molyko.

Launched in May 2017 and scheduled for completion in October 2018, the project was stalled after suspected armed separatists attacked the site, halting work at just 14 percent progress.

The area has long been abandoned and covered in grass.

Since taking office in 2019, Dr. Manaouda had made no public comment on the hospital—until his announcement on Friday.

Coming so close to elections, the timing has left many questioning whether the pledge is a campaign tactic rather than a long-overdue response to persistent appeals from local elites.

Ruling party figures in Buea, including Mayor David Mafani Namange, have repeatedly pressed for the resumption of the project, which was expected to become the largest referral hospital in the South West region.

Their calls, however, went unanswered—until now.

After four decades in power, the Biya government is under pressure.

Having lost key allies and significant voter bases in the northern regions, the regime has been scrambling to recover support, revisiting stalled projects and attempting to regain public trust eroded by years of underdevelopment, corruption, rights abuses, and insecurity.

In addition to the hospital pledge, Dr. Manaouda launched the region’s first medical oxygen storage tank at the Limbe Regional hospital.

State newspaper, Cameroon Insider, has also reported the imminent construction of a 350-megawatt gas plant in the seaside town, after similar projects in Kumba and Bamenda.

While these projects could bring jobs, boost healthcare, and spur economic growth, their sudden rollout so close to elections makes it difficult to separate development policy from campaign politics.