Crackdown On Penja Plantation Workers Leave Many Wounded

Several persons have been wounded in a military crackdown on striking workers in Penja, in the Mungo Division of the littoral region of Cameroon.
Security Workers of Les Plantation Haute Penja commonly known as PHP today continued a strike action launched on
Tuesday, November 18, 2019 against the abusive termination of their contract by company officials.
The move that intensified early this Wednesday November 19th, saw the main entrance into PHP blocked, paralysing activities throughout the enterprise.

Worker holds emptied teargas can used to disperse them

A source on the ground said the workers rejected a crisis meeting with some company officials, demanding to meet the general manager unconditionally.
“They accuse top company officials of diverting their advantages” a local source said.
The director general who was on a foreign mission, is said to have arrived Cameroon last night.

While company officials negotiated a crisis meeting with representatives of the disgruntled workers, the workers went ahead to block the major access points to the enterprise
provoking the brutal response of soldiers
“The soldiers used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters, leaving many severally injured ” a source in Penja told MMI. Students who were caught in the commotion also got wounded we are told.

PHP is situated few meter away from the National road No5 between Douala and Bafoussam and is a French owned banana plantation company, created some 20 years ago.