Yaounde Urban Community loses in the face of justice

The administrative court of Yaoundé delivered its verdict on Tuesday 19 October 2015 over the case of Hervis Nguetabong which was deemed admissible by the judges against the CUY.

"I did not even know what stage the case was. This case devastated me and I'm at a stage in my life where I am recovering," says Hervis Nguetabong to Kalara newspaper on Monday, October 19, 2015.

Hervis Nguetabong had acquired a 734 m² of land at Ngoulemekong in the district of Yaounde 5 near Soa, says the newspaper. "I was planning to construct a building with at least three stories. Imagine what the foundation cost me," he said.

Mr. Nguetabong applied for building permits at the CUY on August 22, 2008. The architect of the CUY, Mr. Fopoussy, who works at the Ministry of Public Works then assessed the work at 18,456,000 FCFA off the purchase of land connecting roads, and architects fees. A huge sum invested on the land," he said in the columns of Kalara.

On August 14, 2008, Hervis Nguetabong, Mbassouop André Pierre Deffo and Honorine Mangamgo, victims of threats of demolition, "went to the Government Delegate, Gilbert Tsimi Evouna to claim their land rights at the site where they were developing in Ngoulemekong," we learn.

In response, the Government Delegate said, "the land that is the subject of your claims is part of a large property that houses the Urban Community of Yaoundé at Ngoulemekong. The registration process for this site for use by the CUY is ongoing following the public utility declaration signed by the Minister of State, Property and Land Affairs for the work to be undertaken by my municipality all over the field," he said.

"Several marks and "demolish" signs were marked on your buildings from the start of construction through the different phases of work to date. You were stubborn in constructing," adds Gilbert Tsimi Evouna.

Despite obtaining interim permit to build from the Mayor of the district of Yaoundé 5, demolition was still done in December 2008. "I lost everything in one gulp," says Nguetabong. "I saw the damage four days after the operation of the CUY, I never set foot there," he said in anger.

The Administrative Court of the Centre in Yaounde restored the victim his right, we read in the newspaper. "Like him, Mrs. Honorine Mangamo, a demolition victim in the same area" was also restored her right, but the CUY appealed.