"They took FCFA3000 to transport me across" - User of the Bamenda-Babadjou highway laments

By Martial Gnoukapasir

Photo credit: GPmedia

accessibility on the Bamenda-Babadjou highway restored

At about 5:43pm Thursday March 25th, Mnews237 confirmed that the cut off Bamenda - Babadjou portion of the highway linking the north west to the west and other regions of the country has been rendered passable.

This still doesn't cancel reports that a bridge at ndoji in Babadjou sub-division collapsed early same day and date in the morning, following heavy rain that battered parts of the Northwest and West regions in the night of Wednesday March 24th 2021 in the country.

Fact is, hundreds of travellers entering or leaving the North West region got stuck on both sides of the two regions following the incident, since there was no way for vehicles to cross on either side.

The only alternative was for vehicles leaving Bamenda for the South West region, Douala and vice versa, to use the Bamenda - Mamfe - Kumba highway, an alternatively good road which due to insecurity is not preferred by passengers owing to the anglophone crisis.

Cut off stretch of highway earlier before maintenance.

Cutting the long story short, passengers who succeeded to navigate their way through into the region have been talking.

In a phone interview with mnews237, Miss Druisilia said following the incident, bikes stationed themselves from the cut-off portion of the road and we're collecting exorbitant amounts from stranded passengers to ferry them  from cut off point to toll gate Matazen.

In pidgin she said " pipo weh dem be get lucky,  see bike weh e carry them from that place to toll gate for 2000frs. We weh we no see bike early beg na beg before dem Carry we for 3000frs"

She regretted that after spending 6000frs to get to bamenda via a Bamenda based agency, she still had to pay 3000frs to get into Bamenda.

passenger who spoke to us via telephone

History lane

The Bamenda-Babadjou highway has been on the news owing to it's bad state for years.

At one point the chairman of social democratic front (SDF) Ni John Fru Ndi staged a protest for cars to stop paying toll fees at the Matazen toll gates till the situation is redressed. 

Though he succeeded in his campaign as no fees has been collected from drivers plying that highway till date, the government several times have either launched or made declarations that funds  have been secured from the African Development Bank to rehabilitate that stretch of the road.

The current excuse was the crisis, as equipments and workers of the contracting authority SOGER SATOM has come under attack on several instances following the crisis.