Demolition in Yaoundé: Mokolo bears the brunt

After demolishing markets and restaurants in Mimboman, in Downtown and Hawaii, the Metropolitan continued the exercise in Mokolo.

Officers of the Urban Community of Yaoundé (Cuy) broke into Elobi Mokolo market to continue their city sanitation project on Monday at 9am.

They were accompanied by armed police riot elements to overcome any protest attempt. Upon arrival, traders were in full sales, not suspecting what was to follow. The police dispersed the market and ordered merchants to leave.

No resistance was witnessed, only a plea from traders to release the counters and the shops where they kept their goods. Lassa, who is a vendor in Brickyard neighborhood and lives near the market, saw the whole scene and asserted that "they came in their truck and ordered everyone to leave. Traders started to run away." He was called by his friend, who himself had a shop where he sold mattresses in the market, to help transport products.

The demolition work began 30 thirty minutes later; no building or warehouse was spared. Traders who stuck around saw their livelihoods go up in smoke. The cries were heard here and there. "What will I do now?" A shop owner lamented with her hands on her head and loincloth on the ground. Standing beside her were her two young children.

From the police and members of the urban community, desolation persisted. Many pieces of wood and boards strewn, concrete blocks were smashed and no trade was visible on the square. Others even tried to restart car engines with parts scattered everywhere. Using bags, wheelbarrows or even their own hands, children and their parents recovered spare planks of wood.

Passersby stopped and watched in dismay at the ‘show’. The crowd seemed to become more massive than sensitive. A truck parked in front of the ruined market recovered a few merchandise that had escaped the demolitions. Lamentation is increasingly recurrent, as all are facing the impending school year.