Special Feature From Cameroon: Serial Land-Grabbers And Royal Accomplices: In-Depth Report

The land-grabbing propensity, especially in Fako Division of the Southwest Region is by all means, a testament to what a few who were conferred with some little power, foisted themselves on the lives of “little people” while putting themselves above the law. The lengthy tenure and callousness with which they governed, is an unsettling reminder of how unfeeling and corrupt local administrators are rarely called to account. For decades, the practice went on, unabated.

Successive administrators who served in Fako, have been returning, sometimes, long after they have been retired to dispose of chunks of looted lands, for mouth-watering sums of cash. The snag is that pretty often, this land is sold or should one say re-sold to indigenes of the Division, which land was expropriated from them in the first place.

Investigations reveal that this has been the practice for many decades by administrators who wielded such undiluted powers that they more or less put themselves above the law. In some cases they manipulated and mutilated the local traditions and folkways; created surrogate traditional rulers who did their bidding and sanctioned for them to carve out and own large chunks of indigenous land without recourse to prudence, common sense and morality.

With the creation of the University of Buea the land-grabbing intensified. Vast acreages were commandeered, upon which were built tenements and hostels to be rented out to students and others, eager to take advantage of the institution to do lucrative business. Few of such tenements are owned by indigenes. Not even the profligate “land surrender chiefs” who normally prefer to buy posh automobiles and frolic with the rest of the “chicken proceeds” from the nabobs are known to have built such tenements as are occupied by varsity students and other stakeholders.

As indicated in our last edition, the whistle has been blown. And both the gullible and the cheats are desperately invoking brute force to demobilize the pressure gauge, to dam the floodgates of justice if you will. In certain cases, they are employing the wealth from the looted land, to financially shake down individual journalists and the gutter press. As we write, attempts are rife to foil investigations into the serial scam that has existed for decades and ruined the lives of the wretched of the earth, the little people who don't have access to the marble corridors of power, in Yaounde.

Above all, they are employing the last kicks of the proverbial dying horse to subordinate national security and ensure but their personal safety and comfort, even if emotions are boiling over and overflowing.

Pontius 'Pilating' or Genuine Concern?
An unnamed Fako Divisional Delegate for State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure, might have gotten so embarrassed by the rate at which the land was melting away under the signatures of grabbers, that he raised a strong memo to a one time Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, for Fako, Francois Bona Ebengue. The mail read in extenso:

“It has been brought to my knowledge that a land certificate has been issued to Wokaka village by the Land Registrar of Fako Division Mrs. Bate Eya Florence Eya, in view of Ministerial Order No000834/Y.2.5/MINDAF/D220 of 14th December 2010 herewith attached, surrendering 15ha 12a 74ca to the said village for the construction of social infrastructures such as hospital, schools, market, Chief's palace and public places with a clause stressing that the purpose of the land cannot be changed without the explicit authorization of the state.

“Our records at the Divisional Delegation does not show (sic) any application for a land certificate by the said village nor any cadastral plan established to that effect, except a site plan which was drawn after the recommendations of a site board commission appointed by Prefectural order, which of course served as one of the documents to obtain the Ministerial surrender.

“A land certificate should be issued following the prescribed procedures by the texts and it is worth noting that the aforementioned was classified a public property of the state to lodge public and social institutions and therefore should not be liable to private appropriation (no land certificate). This is so because Wokaka was initially surrendered 34ha 72a 59ca in May 2010. We may begin to ask ourselves on what grounds and interest was this land certificate issued by the land registrar…who are the culprits?

“It is interesting to know that Wokaka village is not even occupying the initial site proposed to her by the site board commission to Lower Muea and Bokoko villages and on the other part as reserved land for future Governmental projects.

“Moreover, it is alleged that one surveyor serving at the Regional Delegation of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure named Tabe Samuel Ashu carried out the implantation works on the site. It will be of utmost importance for us to know who instructed him to execute the job and on the ground.

“Furthermore, it is ridiculous to imagine that the land certificate was issued for 27ha contrary to the quantity of surrendered land by the Minister and the implantation on the ground is covering about 75ha. This is strange, in the sense that sworn in civil servants are carrying on this type of transactions. (sic)

“At this point, it will be better that each service looks into its competence because it is not normal for a site board commission to be appointed and another undefined group of individuals make decisions thereafter.

“It will be just, except contrary opinion if the following measures are taken:

-Request the land registrar to forward all technical (cadastral report, cadastral plans) and administrative documents (stamp dutied Ministerial order, application from the village, procuration given by the village to their representatives inscribed in the land certificate etc);

-Engage a legal investigation on all parties involved;

-Request for nullifying that land certificate…”

SDO Bona's response to the said mail was dated November 7, 2012 and directed to The Fako Divisional Land Registrar, Buea. In it, he quoted the legal dispositions prescribed for the issuance of land certificates before ordering the suspension of “the transformation of all such acts into land certificates until the uplifting (sic) of the terms of Ministerial Circular… and the unclouded prescription of the procedure to follow as far as surrendered lands are concerned.”

Weeks later and in apparent deference to the SDO's order, Florence Eya Bate, the Registrar made a compilation of 100 such transactions and with a terse statement to wit: “I have suspended my signature on 100 doubtful files on direct matriculation until further notice…” she signed and stamped her authority on the document.

But hardly had Bona left the Down Beach office than his successor, Zang III ditched the document with what appeared to be a determination to grab and grab quickly before someone else is sent to replace him in the “land accumulation office.” Hence, the manifest raking up of every visible hectare of land in this seaside Division, including one that reportedly went for FCFA 400 million and hosts a lucrative quarry.

To Be Continued
Land grabbing - We that land at all cost - Will farmlands or other assets be destroyed and what happens? What shows that this bogus minister will respect all of its engagements/decisions and will not alter them in the course of time? How is this bogus minister jointly demarcating buffer zones and plantation areas? With all this illegal land grabbing will there be enough land left for village use and our descendants? More from - http://betockvoices.page.tl/