For the second time in three months, Cameroon’s Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Masséna Ngallè Bibéhè, has suspended the Touristique Express Transport Agency after an accident involving their bus left at least nine people dead.
On May 9, 2023, 14 people were declared dead in the fatal accident involving the Touristique Express bus. The accident occurred a few kilometres from Garoua-Boulaï, East Region of Cameroon.
According to reports, the driver had fallen asleep and lost control of the vehicle after finishing its run in the fields.
In a release made public shortly after the tragic incident, the Minister of Transport suspended the agency for 30 days. A suspension was lifted by the same Minister four days later.
In a separate incident that occurred recently in Ngaoundere, at least nine people were reported to have lost their lives, with over 40 others injured.
Contrary to claims by the Touristique Express Agency stating that the accident was a result of brake failure, an investigation by the Transport Ministry revealed that the tragedy was, “the consequence of several risk factors for road traffic accidents, in particular excessive speed and the overlapping of the continuous line…” The Transport Minister stated this in his release.
Touristique Express Transport Agency confirms the ban imposed on them.
In the same release, Jean Ernest Masséna Ngallè Bibéhè imposed a 15-day ban on the Transport Agency for a “serious breach of road traffic rules.”
The Transport Agency Avenir de la Kadey, which was equally involved in a fatal accident, that cost the lives of three people, was not spared from the Minister’s wrath.
The driver, Mouhamadou Mansourou, the driver of the bus involved, has been banned for one year for a serious breach of road traffic rules that led to the deaths of seven (07) people.
While it is important for the transport ministry to take serious measures to ensure that traffic rules are observed by drivers, there are many who feel that the authorities are ducking their responsibility, as many of Cameroon’s road accidents are related to the poor nature of the roads.
The same Ministry of Transport recently launched a project to train road safety experts, but so far, there has been no update.
