Kumbo: BBH and Shisong to Save Millions as Electricity Returns After 2 Years

By Hans Ngala

The people of Kumbo are in jubilant mood after receiving electricity for the first time since 2020. The two largest mission-owned hospitals in the country have been adversely affected by the lengthy power cuts as they sometimes have to run on generators for weeks or months.

Wirngo Amos, our source who spoke to this reporter from Kumbo; indicated that due to the ongoing Anglophone Crisis, electricity supply to Kumbo (which is the second largest town in the Northwest after Bamenda) has been unsteady.

The absence of electricity adversely affected two of Cameroon’s largest private hospitals – Banso Baptist Hospital (BBH) and Shisong Catholic Hospital and meant that these two mission hospitals each had to draw up a huge budget for fuel for their generators which have to power critical units of their respective hospitals such as the operating rooms and other emergency services.

Both BBH and Shisong have also had to invest huge budgets into building solar panels as buying fuel from Bamenda is not sustainable all the time due to impromptu gun battles and road blockades that sometimes last for days, making the purchase of fuel from Bamenda, impossible.

The presence of electricity is being celebrated by the thousands of Kumbo residents who had become accustomed to using solar-powered power banks to charge their batteries and kerosene lanterns as well as candles for lighting their homes.

Kumbo sits at an elevation of 2000m above sea level and along with smaller towns like Nkambe and Ndu, it is one of the coldest towns in Cameroon. Having electricity means that residents can get to save themselves the trouble of fetching firewood for cooking and heating their homes.

Our source summarized it thus:

“This is the first time in two years that we’ve had electricity for over 24 hours. Living without electricity is really a nightmare. This is the first time I could iron my dresses, watch TV and work at home…”.