Bike owners to have mandatory registration documents

It has been reported by the ministry of public transport in Cameroon that over 200 commercial motorcycles are in circulation in major cities like Yaounde, more than 500 are in Douala and 400 in Bamenda but not up to 200 of these bikes are registered or have legal documents.

“Sometimes it’s because of the numerous documents we need put together that scares us away from starting the registration process,” Jude a motorbike rider in Yaounde says.

The Director of road transport in Cameroon, Mbamome Divine, earlier this January 27 called on all riders to follow instructions from the ministry of transport.

Mbamome Divine says because of lack of registration, in situations of crime, it is really difficult to track down the concerned motorbike and its rider. For security reasons, councils have been assigned to attribute number plates alongside jackets to all bike riders in Cameroon.

These number plates and jackets are delivered by the ministry of transport and also, riders have to present an ID card, a vehicle logbook and a certificate of conformity. The vehicle registration number costs FCFA 11,000frs.

“The individual has to show proof of the fact that that bike has paid the custom duties and the individual bike rider ID card which is 3000 frs and 1500 frs for stamp application,” Divine Mbamome Nkendong added.

Council workers say it is hard to implement all these decisions due to the presence of hundreds of bikes in the territory.

“We shy away from all these registration processes because in the end, they will still be asking us to pay different kinds of taxes and putting together how much we make in a day, after paying all these taxes we go home with nothing. We understand that yes in times of crimes like harassments and theft carried out by some bike riders, it is really hard to trace owners,” Moses Ngamga Etienne, a motorcycle rider in Douala explains.

Riders in Yaounde have promised to do their best making sure they follow instructions as they cite cases where riders have been killed and there is no trace as to who the victim is due to lack of bike plate numbers and identification.