A team of gendarmes was on the Yaounde-Bafia highway on Saturday April 16, 2016. This was in continuation of the road safety campaign, “Operation Check-Monitor-Punish,” of the National Gendarmerie. Led by Inspector of Gendarmerie, Colonel Emile Ntamag, Supervisor of the Road Safety Campaign, gendarme officers carried out checks at different spots on the highway linking Yaounde to the West and North West Regions.

At the Akak Gendarmerie Post, checks went on as usual with rigour. The offences booked were mostly overspeeding, overloading, non-respect of road signs, non-use of seat belts, lack of spare tyres and First Aid Boxes. Others were un-lit/illegible vehicle number plates, lack of speed indicators, among others. A total of 30 offences were recorded at Akak by midday. Major Marie Gertrude Yebga explained that the checks were not only carried on vehicles, but also on passengers. She said some of the passengers had expired National Identity Cards, while others had none at all.

Also, there are vehicles that ply the road with hidden number plates because they carry luggage that covers number plates; while others have broken number plates, making it difficult to read them. “Even radars are unable to read such number plates,” Major Yebga pointed out. She also complained that a good number of vehicles do not have CEMAC number plates in spite of various sensitisation campaigns, while some drivers brandish fake vehicle insurance papers.

A driver, Victor Fogueng, who was fined 25,000 FCFA for overspeeding, admitted that he was at fault. He said he was rushing to Yaounde from Bafoussam for an emergency. Another driver, Melingui Fouda Fabrice, who was equally booked for overspeeding, could not pay and his vehicle was impounded. Colonel Roger Djeufa, Commander of Detachment Bravo, said in spite of several checkpoints on the highways, motorists collude with each other to avoid them. As a result, he said, gendarmes change their locations regularly in order to catch recalcitrant drivers.