When I came back in Kumbo, it
turned out that the road up to my house has been worked on a bit. The mother of
the Cardinal died and the funeral passed my road. People say; thank God the mother
died, now our road is passable again. Isn’t it sad?
My colleague, with who I was
in the car, was very happy because after 15 minutes the President really passed
and we could still have our meeting. It seems that sometimes they close the
roads around 11AM and the President only passes by 4PM. Or later… I also hear
stories of people who are kept in the airplane at the airport for hours because
the First Lady is coming back.
A few days ago I came back
from the Netherlands, flying into Yaoundé. The road from the airport to the
town was repaired. My friends then told me that President Hollande from France
was coming to Cameroon, so the road has been repaired. On TV we saw people
wiping the roads, painting the white lines, banners were put up all over town.
Hollande was expected by 4PM, but the members of the political party of the Cameroonian
President were supposed to be ready to receive him along the airport road by
noon. Roads all over town would be closed down. I was lucky I didn’t arrive
that day as the airport was most likely closed all day.
For people in Yaoundé, it is a
normal situation that roads are closed if the President is expected to arrive
or leave. For me as a Dutch it is an amazing thing that roads are closed for
hours only because one person is supposed to pass.
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| PS Ngashie as drawn by a pupil |
By the way, these road repairs and all security cost a lot of money. If
you like to support a better cause in Cameroon, check our crowdfunding
page here and help Knowledge for Children to donate books to PS Ngashie!
