50th Anniversary  of  Reunification:  Road Map  of  Con‐

struction Projects in Buea, examines the face lift given to 

the legendary town of Buea in prelude to the celebration 

of  Cameroons  reunification.  In  Cameroon,  projects  are 

given with no follow‐up and moreover, these do not get 

to completion. This book is an analysis of all projects un‐

dertaken  to  transform Buea  into an urban centre.  It pro‐

vides facts and figures with interviews from top govern‐

ment officials in the region. The authors find it normal to 

inform  the  population  on  government’s  expenditure  in 

the embellishment of the town of Legendary Hospitality.   

Nsonyi Amstrong, Gilles Yumo, Saahkem Nancy, Mafor Neh Daisy and Roger 

Kunyui Ngomenyui, are final year students in the department of Journalism and 

Mass Communication in the University of Buea.  

This publication is a practical exercise for the course JMC 406; a final course in 

book publishing reroute to getting a BSc. in Journalism and Mass Communica-

tion.   

AUTHORS 

 

 

ROAD MAP

OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

IN BUEA

NSONYI AMSTRONG GILLES YUMO

SAAHKEM NANCY MAFOR NEH DAISY

ROGER KUNYUI NGOMENYUI

Copyright © 2013 

All rights reserved. Manufactured in Cameroon by THE BOND MEDIA GROUP. No part 

of this academic material protected by the copyright notice may be reproduced or uti‐

lized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical. Please do not kill this aca‐

demic craft through photocopy, recording or by any information storage and retrieval 

system, without written permission from the copyright owners. Please respect to academ‐

ic mind sets. 

 

 

First published in 2013 

Typeset in Palatino Linotype(11/14) , Bookman Old style(11/13) and Impact (15) 

By THE BOND MEDIA GROUP 

siramigo010@yahoo.com bondmediagroup@yahoo.com 

   

 

17 

 

 

Arial View of Mt. Cameroon; platform for ecotourism 

Supervision Committee on Tour 

Drive way: Reunification Guest House 

SWR Governor at 2nd Evaluation meeting  

 Bokwai Road yet to be finished  

16 

ROAD MAP

OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

IN BUEA

NSONYI AMSTRONG

GILLES YUMO

SAAHKEM NANCY

MAFOR NEH DAISY

ROGER KUNYUI NGOMENYUI

 

 

 CONTENTS 

  

Preface____________________________________________________iii         Acknowledgement__________________________________________iv 

Chapter One:  Infrastructural Development  in Buea  in Prelude  to  the Cele‐

bration  of  the  Fiftieth Anniversary  of  Cameroon’s  Reunification:  Projects, 

Facts And Figures. 

Introduction________________________________________________5 

Road Construction__________________________________________6 

Lodging___________________________________________________7 

Official Grand Stand________________________________________8 

Other Projects______________________________________________8 

 

Chapter Two: Exclusive Interview with Southwest Regional Gover‐nor: Bernard Okalia Bilai___________________________________9 

 

Chapter Three: Interview with Regional Delegate for Housing and Urban 

Development Oben Francis Essie, On Project Evaluation in Buea__11 

 New Buea Council Hall.______________________________________14 

Evaluation Meetings in Pictures_______________________________16 

 

 

 ii 

 

 ouncil Building

“

Senator Mbella Moki Charles; erstwhile Mayor for 

15 

 

  New Buea Co

“This is an Edifice worthy of Buea.”

14 

 

 

PREFACE 

AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT CAMEROON:BUEA Buea  is  the capital of  the South West region  in  the Republic of Cameroon and 

chief  town of  the Bakweri people. The people of Cameroon  in all affection  call 

Buea  the  town of LEGENDARY HOSPITALITY.   Buea  is  located at  the  foot of 

Mount Cameroon  (4100metre  above  sea  level),  the  highest  peak  in West  and 

Central Africa.    The mount Cameroon  biodiversity  project  is  an  initiative  by 

government to make the area: an ecological hub for the promotion of ecotourism 

in Buea. Mount Cameroon is a sports venue and a favorite picnic destination for 

the town dwellers and nature lovers. The Mount Cameroon race of hope that is 

run in February each year: Here athletes challenge the “chariot of gods” to win 

cash, fame and keep the Olympic spirit. 

Although Buea  is  beautiful,  I  can  say  one  of  the most  beautiful  towns  in  the 

world, very few people know about its history. Buea as the host town to German 

governors during the colonial period and the most preferred destination for Eu‐

ropean settlement in Cameroon. This was because of its cold climate that could 

be compared to the temperate regions of the world. German and British colonial 

administrators and settlers would attest to this claim.  

Apart  from  the mountain,  the  town of Buea  is  the  symbol of Cameroons past 

with colonial buildings still on‐sight. Also reunification infrastructures are seen 

all over town.   The famous Reunification hotel  is a must visit  lodge for tourist. 

So many other hotels are  located  in Buea  capable of accommodating as many 

visitors as possible in an atmosphere of legendary hospitality.  

The celebration of the 50th anniversary of Cameroons reunification has brought 

infrastructural development  to  the  town. The  local and administrative authori‐

ties have taken advantage of his opportunity to transform the Buea town into an 

urban “chef  lieu”. The budget has been made available by government  for  the 

various projects: this book does a detailed evaluation of the various projects.     NSONYI AMSTRONG 

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Buea. 

  iii 

 

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

50th anniversary of reunification: road map construction projects 

in Buea,  is a detailed  report and analysis on  the various projects taking place. We  the writers of  this academic material are deeply 

endeared to the Lord Almighty for letting us go through the pub‐

lishing process.  

Gratitude  to  the  administrative  authorities  in  the  South West  re‐

gion; especially the Governor, Mr. Bernard Okalia Bilai: the region‐

al delegate  for urban development, Mr Oben Francis.   To  the au‐

thorities  at  the  Buea  council  and  the  construction  managers  of  

Chariot Construction Company and Arab Contractors: the military 

construction  team at the independence square. 

For your scholastic, moral and intellectual contribution in our aca‐

demic  stay  in  The  University  of  Buea,  Dr.  Julius  Che  Tita  and 

Manka’a Tabuwe, our course instructors, we are thankful.  

Nsonyi Amstrong 

Gilles Yumo  

Saahkem Nancy  

Mafor Neh Daisy 

Roger Kunyui Ngomenyui  

iv 

 

 

Q3-How much has been done on the various earmarked projects.

Work is on and according to DIDON CONSEIL SARL and SADEG the work is slow because the dateline has passed. The Federal quarter-west farm-GHS Bokwango and Governor’s office-Upper farm prison have been removed from the projects and old cinema hall-Bonalyonga-Wondong-council, Buea town-catholic church-ENAP have been added to the projects.

Q4-What is the dateline for these projects to be completed?

The dateline has passed. It was for March ending where Chariot was at 45% and Arab at 33%.

Q5-What was the budget for these projects?

Development does not come freely there must be a cost to see new infrastructure. Initially, the budget was nine billion FCFA (FCFA 9.000.000.000), but presently, the budget has risen to twelve bil-lion FCFA ( FCFA 12.000.000.000) in all since some work has been added.

Seven billion seven hundred and forty million seven hundred and thirty four thousand sixty three FCFA (FCFA 7.740.734.063) for AR-AB CONTRACTORS CAMEROON and three billion six hundred and one million nine hundred and eighty five thousand seven hundred and thirty eight FCFA (FCFA 3,601.985.738) for CHARIOT COMPA-NY LTD. Q6- What have been the challenges in the accomplishments of these projects? You know you cannot commence work without signing the contract. Late signing of contract was a problem. The contract was signed in March which was expected to be the dateline even though work start-ed in December.

Also, the slow nature of payment of money has also been a major constraint to the contractors, but the work is going on.

Finally, the work load has increased and therefore the dateline has to be extended. As a result of this, the contractors are asking for a four month extension so as to finish these projects but their request is still under consideration from the authorities. The work will continue even if the president comes and goes because nobody knows when he is coming.

13 

 

 

ARAB CONSTRUCTION CAMEROON Mile 17 –Police roundabout – Prime minister’s lodge, Presidency to Bokwaongo, Regional delegation of Security- Governor’s office-Governor’s residence-Court of appeal- BICCEC junction-court junc-tion residence of the secretary general of the region, Kuve junction (formerly Tuborg junction)- Hospital-military camp-Razel street-main

road, Old cinema hall-Bonalyonga-Wondong-council, Buea town-catholic church-ENAP, Governor’s office- upper farm prison, Mile 18-malingo junction, Bonduma-Bokwai, campaign street-Wonyamongo-Buea town, Federal quarter-west farm-GHS Bokwango and parking lots at the presidential residence in Bokwaongo-Buea.

CHARIOT COMPANY LTD Parking lots, Police station roundabout-Legion gendarmerie-governor’s office, Wonya Mongo-Buea town, government primary school(Small Soppo)- Moki garage(Great Soppo) and Affosi-Bokwai.

Mountain Hotel  Bulldozers Grading New Roads   

Chariot Company LTD in Action 

12  

 INTRODUCTION

INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN BUEA

IN PRELUDE TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE

FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF CAMEROON’S

REUNIFICATION: PROJECTS, FACTS AND FIG-

URES.

The Head of State; H.E Paul Biya, in the next few months

will be in the town of “Legendary Hospitality” to celebrate

the “50th” anniversary of Cameroon’s reunification. This

explains the reason for: hammer hits, bulldozer noise,

squeezing movement of trucks, mushrooming structures

and the rehabilitation of new streets to give Buea a new

face lift to commemorate the occasion in all solemnity.

Arab constructions Cameroon and the Chariot Company

Limited have employed over seven hundred men and

women to set the pace for the metamorphosing through

construction and rehabilitation of roads. Also, there are

two state owned hotels: Buea Mountain Hotel and Parliamentarian Flats and a grand stand are under construction.

5 

 

 

Road Construction

Buea is witnessing an improvement of its road network with ma-jor outlets and inlets being opened to ease circulation during cele-brations of the reunification and to serve as better arteries for traffic flow in the future. The most remarkable roads under con-struction in Buea is the Afosi Bookshop-Bokwai-Muea road long of about seven kilometers, estimated to cost some FCFA 1,776,061,800. The contracting companies do have different lev-els of construction to do in Buea within firm datelines. According to Mr. Oman Christopher, manager of Chariot Company Limited: apart from infra mentioned projects, his company is charged with building the 450 metres Wonya Mungo-Buea town road.

They are equally expected to give lift to the road from Police-Roundabout-Legion Gendamerie to the Governor’s Office long of 350 metres: GS Small Soppo- Moki Garage Great Soppo (2200 metres) and parking lots of 49,038 square metres.

The Arab Contractors on their part are at filling pot holes, cover-ing gutters and paving sidewalks of 8.3km; from Mile 17- Police Roundabout- Prime Ministers Lodge Presidency Bokwaongo for the sum of FCFA 340,810,118. They also have roads like from the

Road Reconstruction in Buea 

6 

 

 

Q1- What are the various construction pro-jects taking place in view of the 50th anniver-sary celebration of the Reunification of Came-roon in Buea? The regional delegation of the ministry of Housing and Urban Development is undergoing twelve (12) road construction projects, that is; main roads, potholes, gutters, removing the middle of the road, horizontal marking, zebra crossing and even the slabs.

Q2-Which companies took the contract and how has the work been shared amongst the companies? ARAB CONTRACTORS CAMEROON and CHARI-OT COMPANY LTD took the contract. The share of the work is done in accordance to the con-tracts signed by each of these companies. The projects touch almost all neighborhoods in Buea, for which the population is called upon to collab-orate for the town to get a new face lift.

These two companies are supervised by two dif-ferent companies namely: Didon Conseils Sarl and SADEG for ARAB CONTRACTORS CAME-ROON and CHARIOT COMPANY LTD respectively.

“The construction works will continue even if

the president comes and goes because nobody

knows when he is coming”

Interview: Regional Delegate for Housing and Urban  

Development OBEN FRANCIS ESSIE, on Project evaluation in Buea. 

11 

 

 

The construction of a new council building at the Clerk’s quarters neighbourhood and a new grand stand at the Bongo Square area are infrastructures that are directly involved with the celebration. Buildings and monuments of historical and administrative functions are under renovation.

Certainly, do not forget the construction of a reunification monument and an open-air Amphitheatre. The water crisis always witnessed by persons in Buea will soon be a thing of the past. Two projects have been undertaken by the water d i s t r i b u t i o n c o m p a n y C A M W A T E R a n d t h e m a n a g e m e n t o f t h i s establishment has promised constant water supply in the nearest future.

Q2. Apart from Buea it seems as though other parts the south west are benefiting from t h e i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l development. Can you outline projects out of Buea but linked to reunification?

The projects extend to other parts of the south west region, but these projects all link to the capital (Buea) where the celebrations will take place. Works on the legendary Kumba-Mamfe road have taken-off and at a high speed. This is to make all the towns and chief localities of the region to be connected. Other areas like Limbe, Kumba, Tiko and Muyuka: have

witnessed renovation on their internal road network.

Q3 How is the population responding to the various construction projects in Buea and other parts of the south west region?

The population is quiet positive to the construction projects this is because we shall be celebrating. It’s but normal because development brings about positive thinking, we have been in party mood since the nation turned to Buea for the ce lebrat ion o f the 50 t h anniversary of reunification. The infrastructures in the town of “Legendary Hospitality” must be of standard, which the population know and respect.

At the moment Buea is under reconstruction, at first the main road in town was the stretch from Mile 17 to the Delegation for national security but today there are roads all over town l i k i n g t h e v a r i o u s neighbourhoods. It is normally been said that where a road passes development follows, that is why the people of Manyu happily received the news of construction works taking place on the Kumba-Mamfe road.

Equally persons who did not respect the norms of urban location were taken off the roads with no hitches. The population is just positive and so I will like to personally thank them for their collaboration.

10 

 

 

Governor’s Office to the Court of Appeal stretching to 2.3km, the 1.9 km Kuve (former Tubourg) junction, to the Military Camp and Razel main road.

Works will also take place on road leading to the Mile 18 junction (1.3km): the 900 metres stretch from the Governor’s office to Upper Farms Prisons: the 1.5km road from Bonduma to Bokwai : 800 me-tres long road from Campaign Street to Winyamongo- Buea town: the Federal Quarters to West Farms and GHS Bokwaongo.

There is the rehabilitation of the Mpondo- Mondoni-Miselele road long of 20km and is to cost some 250 million FCFA. Also, an esti-mated FCFA 400 million will be used for the renovation of the 10km road from Malingo junction to the Bulu Blind centre.

SMAR constructions, another road construction company in charge of the FCFA 1.9 billion road from Mile Four in Limbe to Sasse in Buea: a distance of 20km. According to the regional delegate for ur-ban development, Mr. Oben Francis, the middle elevator of the main boulevard from Mile 17 to Police Roundabout will be remove costing some FCFA 2 billion.

Lodging Two state hotels are undergoing refurbishment in Buea to serve as lodging facilities for visitors and dignitaries during the 50th anniver-sary celebration. These buildings with dazzling white colours are: the Mountain Hotel hosting 84 rooms while the Parliamentary Flat has 30 rooms. According the Regional Delegate for Tourism and Leisure, Mr. Peter Elangwe, these hotels come to add to the already existing once and those of neighboring towns like Tiko , Mutengene, Muyuka, Limbe and Kumba to assure over 2883 bedrooms to visitors.

Renovated Parliamentary Flat (L)  and  Mountain Hotel (R) 

7 

 

 

Official Grand Stand The grand stand to sit the president of the republic , national and international personalities is sprouting at the usual ceremonial ground in Clerk’s quarters ( Bongo square). Engineered by the Mili-tary, the structure is of great attraction to the Buea town Dwellers. The construction is mostly done with iron bars and wood being the neatest one can find in the area.

Other projects There will be the construction of an open air amphi theatre and the reunification monument, to cost FCFA 350 million and FCFA 750 million respectively. Also, according to the Governor of the South West region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, there on going works to increase water supply in Buea and to electrify the main streets. The Buea council has completed the construction of the new building to house the council office at Clerk’s quarters.

Official Sitting Lodge 

8 

 

 

Q1. What new infrastructure should be expected in Buea as r e u n i f i c a t i o n c e l e b r a t i o n s approach? The projects are of different dimensions, some seven to eight months ago, there were r e n o v a t i o n a n d extension works began at the Mountain hotel and the Parliamentary L o d g e . T h e s e government owned establishments are 95% to completion and await just the equipments for inner decoration. Then followed with the renovations of roads in

Buea: It is certainly no news

to say that here are a lot of circulation problems in Buea due to lack of adequate roads especially in the peripheries.

Looking at the high way with the two billion FCFA project to take-off the middle lane of the high way from Mile 17 to the Governor’s office. Apart from trying to open the quarters and periphery, there is equal ly the new entrance road to and from Limbe named “the tea road” to ease access into the town.

“Buea is under reconstruction and

the population is positive”

EXCLUSIVE  

INTERVIEW With  

Southwest  Regional  Governor 

Bernard Okalia Bilai 

9