Cameroon: Traders In Bamenda Go Amok After Gov’t Delegate Shutdown 4 Major Markets

Traders in Bamenda, chieftain town of the North West Region of Cameroon, this morning went wild after they got up and discovered that the Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council, Vincent Nji Ndumu, has shut down four major markets in the metropolis.

The Ntarikon, Nkwen, Food and Bamenda Main Markets, which are all controlled by the Bamenda City Council, were heavily guarded this morning by police, gendarmerie and other military officers, thus preventing the traders from having access into the markets to carry out their business activities.

The decision to ground all commercial activities in the four major markets came after the Government Delegate held a meeting with the traders last weekend and exhorted them to defy ghost towns, overcome fear and carry on with their business activities.

During the meeting the Government Delegate said it was irrational for the people of the Region to keep impoverishing themselves through ghost town operations.

The traders in constructive dialogue with the Government Delegate agreed that the ghost towns and threats from unknown sources have slowed down their business activities for the past nine months. A situation which they all agree must stop.

Nji Ndumu then beseeched to defy calls from adventurers, fugitives, and activist living out of the country and continue with their normal lives.

But the ghost towns on Monday dubbed Ndumu’s Ghost Towns were more severe that what has been going on that is why the Government Delegate decided to seal all the markets and added locks to those of the traders in the various stores.

Uncertainty now looms in Bamenda and Cameroon Concord willbring you details as the event unfolds: