Investigative Report

​Anglophone crisis: 

Ghost towns, lockdowns crumbling socio-economic activities in NW, SW.

By Shing Timothy & Wanchia Cynthia  

03 Nov 2023 

  

Muea is a neighbourhood in Buea with the largest market where farmers sell their produce to the denizens of the town. The market days are Thursdays and Sundays, during which the area is bustling with life and traffic. On Mondays, the area becomes a shadow of itself with empty streets, military cars and silence.

The population in this area usually retreat to their houses, scared of being kidnapped or shot by separatist fighters for not respecting ghost towns and lockdowns or being arrested by defence and security forces on patrol. 

It is the same scenario at the Mile 17 Park in Buea, a place usually bustling with people moving from Buea to Douala, Kumba, Limbe, and Tiko, including those in transit from other parts of the country to another. 

Several travel agencies have their local branches here with passengers welcomed by the loud noise of announcements from different businesses or the invitation from different agents from the numerous travel agencies to board their buses going to Bamenda, Yaoundé, Douala or any other part of the country. 

Getting into Mile 17 on a normal day, for a first-time visitor to Buea, will seem like any normal market in the country with a lot of goods displayed here and there and hawkers visible everywhere. 

However, on Mondays or lockdowns, the place is quiet and permeated by silence. This is because people have reverted to their homes with no travel out of the city. The different travel agencies do not leave Buea, for fear of their buses being burnt or their drivers killed or kidnapped for not respecting ghost towns or lockdowns.

The picture of Muea and Mile 17 Park in Buea, aptly fits what obtains in most parts of the North West and South West Regions since the crisis rocking these parts of the country morphed into a separatist conflict in October 2017.

Regular "ghost towns" have been ongoing for years every Monday in many parts of Cameroon's English-speaking South West and North West regions. On such days, shops and businesses are closed, roads are empty, and security patrols are reinforced.

Teachers and lawyers, under the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, respected ghost towns on Mondays since the crisis started with calls for ‘stay home’ by the population of the regions as a form of civil disobedience to force the state to resolve their grievances. 

Separatist fighters later hijacked it and increased the number of ghost town days to match the days when jailed separatist leaders appeared in the Yaoundé Military Court. Lockdowns were imposed by separatists for two weeks and also to coincide with activities like school resumption, national or youth day celebrations and visits to the regions by prominent government officials.

Lockdowns costing the regions massive financial loses

The number of work days lost to ghost towns and lockdowns, according to the Cameroon Employers’ Union, GICAM, in its 2019 report is estimated at 30% in terms of wealth created in the two regions, estimated in financial terms at 777.26 billion CFA francs, more than 4% of national wealth lost.

Collins Njenewone is a taxi driver who frequents the Bambili stretch with the University of Bamenda. As a taxi driver, he works every day of the week except on Mondays or during lockdowns. 

Frequent ghost towns and lockdowns, he explained, have weakened his financial power, making him unable to respect all his financial commitments. 

“I find it hard to provide for my family during such ghost towns. Since this crisis started, I usually earn between 45,000 to 50,000 FCFA in a week. When ghost towns are called for two weeks, I lose between 90.000 to 100,000 FCFA,” Njenewone said. 

The gloomy picture painted by Njenewone generally holds for most businesspersons in the two restive North West and South West Regions of Cameroon where ghost towns and lockdowns imposed by separatist fighters have nearly crippled the once thriving economies of the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

Municipalities witnessing shortfall in revenue collection

Ghost towns and lockdowns, according to most municipal authorities, have harmed the amount of financial resources mobilised by their councils through taxes. 

Sirri Emelda Fon, the Secretary General of Bamenda II Council, said they were unable to collect rents at market stalls. 

“…the ghost town phenomenon has led to the low-income collection as we cannot collect taxes as we did before the crisis. We cannot also collect rents from the markets under our control. The occupants attribute the difficulty of paying to the regular Monday ghost towns and the frequent lockdowns,” Fon said. 

The low revenue collection, she added, was because most council workers were afraid to go down to the field because of the fear of being kidnapped or killed. 

Users of these stalls and other taxpayers, she said, complain of lack of money to even pay their due taxes. As a result, she said, development was retarded in the municipality because the revenues collected cannot meet the needs of the area.

On his part, the Mayor Etongo Efange Edem of Idabato Council in Ndian Division, South West Region, said the revenues collected in his municipality nosedived because of the crisis and the unwillingness of Nigerian residents in the area to pay their taxes. 

Mayor Etongo Efange said the climate made it difficult for the council to meet its responsibilities to provide clean water, basic health care and education opportunities to his denizens.

Small private businesses suffering the negative effects of the crisis

Ghost towns and lockdowns have also paralysed small businesses across the two regions with most shutting down, relocating to safer areas or barely surviving. Nchang Ernestine, a petty business owner in Bamenda, retailing fashion products from Douala said the conflict has greatly reduced the buying power of her clients, thus affecting her business.

“My business is surviving based on God's blessings,” she said, adding that she buys clothes from Douala and resells them in Bamenda. 

“…it was good before the crisis to make a profit, pay my rent…but since the Monday ghost towns started having an impact on my business and the frequent calls for lockdown made it worse. I can barely break even because some days, I am blocked in neighbouring towns by such calls,” Nchang regretted. 

On her part, Eposi Clarence a vegetable seller at the Muea market in Buea Subdivision, said to beat Monday ghost towns, she tries to sell all her stock on Sundays, but at times takes the risk to sell on Mondays as a last resort. 

“I sell vegetables at the market and will sometimes do all to ensure I see by Sunday because whatever is left gets bad by Tuesday morning after the regular Monday ghost town. When I do not get lucky to sell all, I take a risk on Monday to go sell out of the market,” Eposi said. 

While acknowledging the risks involved in selling on Mondays, Eposi said she needed it for the upkeep of her family and to minimise losses. Lockdowns, she said, make life unbearable for her since she has to buy and resale every day to feed her family. 

“Each time they call for the lockdown that lasts between 2 t0 3 weeks, it gets awful for us. Feeding becomes an issue and worse if anyone falls sick in my house that requires we go to the hospital. The ghost towns and lockdowns have harmed my family and me,” she lamented. 

The Anglophone crisis started in late 2016 with professional grievances by teachers and lawyers, marked by the closure of schools in the two regions, strikes, unrest, and sporadic violence. 

The tensions later escalated in October 2017, when separatists unilaterally proclaimed independence in the two Regions. Since 2017, separatist fighters have been using ghost towns and lockdowns as part of the 'struggle' to achieve their independence dream.

Published by Upfront

05/11/23