Re: Former SDO sanctioned Botanic Gardens land lease

The said parcel of Limbe Botanic Gardens land were overseen and sanctioned by the former SDO of Fako, Francois Bona Ebengue and not Bernard Okalia Bilai, or the current SDO, Zang III.

Following the news of the alleged sale of the said Botanic Gardens land, the SDO, Zang III, summoned the Conservator of the Gardens, Julie Mbome Mafany and the concerned, Roland Achulifu Cho, CEO of Neptune Marine International Company land deal.

From documents The Post procured on Saturday, November 8, Achulifu, on Wednesday, November 5, wrote to the SDO of Fako:

“Following our last meeting concerning the piece of land at the Botanic Gardens which was rented to me by the State for development of an amusement park for the interest of tourism and the beauty of the town, I hereby declare that the piece of land measuring 3400 sqm² was not sold, but was rented to me by the State to develop and make it attractive to the eyes of every Cameroonian leaving in Limbe and beyond.”

Was The Minister Then Misled? In effect, the Minister of State Property, Lands Tenure and Surveys, Jacqueline Koung à Besike, on May 08, 2013, signed a Decision N0 000309 Y.2.5/MINCAF/SG/D1/D11 authorising Roland Achulifu Cho to occupy the said piece of land. But curiously enough, Minister Koung à Biseke’s authorisation was based on a request letter to this effect that had been forwarded to her office on October 09, 2013 by the then SDO of Fako, Bona Ebengue.

The Minister’s Decree stated that the said piece of land, according to the SDO’s letter, was State land and located at “Down Beach in the Limbe I Subdivision.

But as stated by Achulifu himself in his November 5 letter and in consonance with the worries expressed by Chief Ekum and the Conservator of the Limbe Botanic Gardens, the piece of land is within the boundaries of the Limbe Botanic Gardens.

The Post was on the site on Saturday, November 8 and from the look of it, the said site is well inside the fence of the Limbe Botanic Gardens which is a protected area of the State by dint of its rich and unique biodiversity.

The Minister’s authorisation further stated that Achulifu shall be paying a yearly rent of FCFA 6.8 million to the “treasury of the State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure Delegation of Fako.”

The order states that the rental period shall last for five years. She adds that the authorisation can be renewed as well as revoked depending on Achulifu’s ability to respect the terms of the lease.

Was The Conservator Aware? From the documents, since the deal for the land lease was initiated in January 2012, neither the Conservator of the Botanic Gardens nor any representative is mentioned anywhere. She was not a member of the Site Board Commission set up by the then SDO Bona Ebengue, that met and approved the said Botanic Gardens land for Achulifu.

The said Commission comprised SDO Bona Ebengue as Chair and a members: the 2nd Assistant SDO - Nko’o Ella, the Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council - Andrew Motanga Monjimba, the Secretary General of the City Council - Charles Arrey Nkongho, the Divisional Delegate of Lands - Thompson Kinge Molongo, Divisional Chief of Surveys - Thomas Ojong, Divisional Service of Surveys - Divine Shey, Divisional Chief of State Property - Clara Mojoko and Roland Achulifu of Neptune Group.

The Commission singed and recommended the surrender of the said piece of land to Achulifu and stated that it was located at “Down Beach” not Botanic Gardens.

Worries Of The Commission The Commission, set up by Bona Ebengue, met first on March 9, 2012, and again on July 12, same year.

When it first met, they expressed some worries to the effect that “the land requested for on the other side of the banks of the river where the lawn tennis court is found, even though within the 25 meters prescribed by the law, falls within the public property zone was allocated to which body now?”

Secondly, “that there was a need for the different stakeholders involved in the management of the Limbe River to have a meeting with the administration before any allocation of the land should be done.”

The Commission, faced with these worries, decided to have another meeting again in the future in order to redress the worries raised.

On July 12, 2012, the Commission, thus, had a second sitting where they examined their worries and finally arrived at the decision of leasing the parcel of land to Achulifu, though in principle, while the Minster, based on this, made the final decision later on May, 2013.

The Commission, nevertheless, had asked that Achulifu works with other stakeholders, the Limbe City Council and LUKMEF, an NGO, to come up with “studies and production of the final project,” adding that, “The applicant should note that it is the approval from the Limbe City Council that will lead to the further transmission of his project to the hierarchy.”

The Ministers authorisation, therefore, entails that the above steps had already been taken by Achulifu.

As per the information Achulifu availed to the Commission concerning the projected Leisure Park, he intended to invest FCFA 250 million to develop a state-of-the-art amusement park in Limbe.

Nevertheless, the quarrel has been that as good as Achulifu’s project might be, the site allotted for it falls within the confines of the Limbe Botanic Gardens founded since 1892. It is home to some of the rarest species of plants, some being aquatic and found within the site assigned to him.