An operation launched on July 1, 2014, saw over 100 vehicles impounded for not having the right papers.

Several car owners involved in clandestine transportation were taken aback on Tuesday, July 1, 2014 in Yaounde when they saw their vehicles impounded by the Forces of Law and Order and asked to pay a fee of FCFA 25,000 upon release. This was within the permanent control by authorities to curb urban disorder in the city of Yaounde.

Last Tuesday morning, the premises of the Yaounde City Council was jam-packed with vehicles that had been impounded. A majority of the vehicles did not have the usual yellow taxi colour and required number plates. Looking frustrated and flabbergasted, the drivers of these vehicles were seen in one corner around the council building, trying to negotiate with authorities on how they could get their vehicles whose keys had been locked in one room.In effect, on that fateful day, police control points were mounted on roads that clandestine vehicles usually ply.

From the Oyomabang to the Mokolo neighbourhood, from Mvog-Mbi to the Mvan neighbourhood as well as in popular neighbourhoods such as Ekounou, Nkomo, Manguiers, most of the drivers whose vehicles were caught and taken to the Yaounde City Council premises, claimed they never understood why they were apprehended by the police especially as they had the required documents permitting their vehicles to ply any road.

While some drivers were seen collecting the required receipt which will enable them to pay FCFA 25,000 and collect their vehicles, others were seen lamenting over the fact that they were not clandestine drivers and had been held wrongly. While brandishing his car documents, Ndam Mama, one of those whose cars have been detained said his car was removed from the Douala Port on June 6 and he was driving along the Mvan neighbourhood when he was stopped by the police and told to follow a line of vehicles that were being led towards the City Council premises.

In this light, the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for the Mfoundi Division in the Centre Region, Jean Claude Tsila, explained that the operation is within the framework of control measures carried out by Forces of Law and Order at any time to clean the town of clandestine drivers. The SDO noted that most at times, individuals are involved in clandestine transportation and when caught, they claim not to be concerned with the phenomenon.

Given that clandestine drivers are a major problem to those involved in urban transportation, Jean Claude Tsila underscored that there is need to wipe them off roads in Yaounde especially as regular transport vehicles are already complaining and planning to go on strike.