Bamenda: How lockdown has hindered business
By Anye Andrew
Many retailers, popularly called “Buyam Sellers”, trading in fruits and vegetables in the Bamenda Main Market, were in a state of shock and consternation on Wednesday when they opened their shops and market stalls.
They were pushed back by the stinking odors of their rotten perishable goods. The lockdown in protest against the Senatorial elections was declared by Separatists in the North West and South West Regions went for 3 days: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
The 72 hours of lockdown left remarkable distress on perishable items, vendors cried out. Suppliers and vendors who spoke to a CNA correspondent in Bamenda said that they lost several baskets of tomatoes, 60 bags of avocados, 15 bags of green spices, and many kilograms of assorted vegetables as well. One woman pleaded that those who declare these “ghost towns” should always consider perishable food vendors, and some bikes and taxis that can ferry emergency sick persons to the hospital.
Another angry vendor who lost 18 baskets of tomatoes told the CNA reporter “For 7 years that we keep locking down, how does this affect La République? Did the Senatorial elections not take place and the results are to be proclaimed? Why did the fighters not disturb just one polling station in Bamenda? But they shall come for us for selling tomatoes on “ghost town” to take care of our health and livelihoods. I have never seen a war in this world where the first enemy of the people is their freedom fighters…” She said fuming in anger.
She added that most of them borrow money from Njangi houses to sponsor their businesses.
Since 2016, Separatists in the North West and SOouth West regions have been fighting for the independence of these regions as was the case before 1961 when the English and French regions, reunited as one Cameroon.
