Minister Cancels ‘Fraudulent’ Decrees Awarding CDC Land to Mutengene Muslim Community

By Tata Mbunwe

The Minister of State Property, Survey and Land Tenure, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, has repealed three decrees that had authorised the transfer of land belonging to the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) to the Mutengene Muslim Community, after finding that the documents used to obtain them were false.

In a communique dated September 11, the Minister said he acted on the terms of a correspondence from the Secretary General of the Presidency, dated September 7, 2026.

That letter stated that documents presented as presidential correspondence, dated February 20, 2024, May 16, 2024, and May 13, 2026, which served as the basis for the Mutengene Muslim Community’s claim on the land, were forged.

The fraudulent document had authorised the return of state-owned plots and a 35-year lease in favour of the Muslim Community of Mutengene on CDC land in Ombe and Bulu Likomba, covering over 59 hectares.

The Ministerial decision cancelling the documents follows weeks of tension at the CDC’s Esuke palm plantation along the Mutengene–Limbe road, where 152 young oil palms were destroyed in two separate incidents within a week.

On August 26, engine saw operators, guarded by security forces according to witnesses, felled 100 palms, less than a week after 52 palms were cut on the same plantation.

The perpetrators, identifying as the Mutengene Muslim Community, wanted the 44-hectare plantation for a planned 3,000-capacity mosque, a hospital, and a centre for internally displaced persons.

Their actions received a strong rebuke from the CDC. The General Manager Franklin Ngoni Njie had denounced the destruction, stating that the corporation received no authorisation from the presidency to surrender any part of its land, and that a 2020 presidential decree suspending all land surrenders by the CDC remained in force.

The Minister’s decision effectively halts the land transfer, dealing a blow to those seeking to acquire the CDC plantation through what authorities now say were forged documents.