By Nchendzengang Tatah
Schooling in Buea these days means defeating the traffic which is increasingly becoming slow. The town, which has only one main boulevard, continues to face a growing population promoting new buildings, and automobiles with no proper town planning or roads.
Over 25,000 students at the pioneer Anglo-Saxon state-owned varsity in Cameroon based in the town, the University of Buea (UB), challenge endless queues before bank doors seeking access to pay fees. Since the 2024/2025 academic year, UB authorities have revoked online fee payment. They blamed inadequate accountability from the digital platform partners who are mobile telephone network providers.
Faculties at UB have been designated separate bank accounts where these payments are made. At one of the banks downtown Molyko, students hint that they have been coming before sunrise. One of those whose name is withheld, noted that he could only succeed in paying by past noon despite his arrival before 6 am. Others we talked to, who identified themselves as freshmen were two hours gone into waiting even though classes were ongoing.
Whenever they succeed in paying fees, the process is not over yet. Students are expected to visit their faculties for control where they are then given access to their digital platform for course registration, and result obtainment.
The UB Vice Chancellor, Prof Ngomo Horace Manga, explained the move to be one that gives a transparent face to the institution’s financial management. He pointed out several lapses the school witnessed while the digital fee payment was ongoing. This included difficulty in having a defined number of fee-paying regular students, slow response from service providers and easy receipt fraud by unscrupulous students.
“… just know that for the MTN, we had problems. We had students whose testimony to the authenticity of the receipts we couldn’t verify. We couldn’t have a complete list of those who paid,” Prof. Ngomo explained.
The process now being used with the banks, he said, was more reliable and traceable. He, however, admitted that there were lapses in the bank fee payment owing partly to the unfaithfulness of some of the banks to the arrangements. He spoke after over 12000 students were matriculated into the University on November 22, 2025. The UB VC claimed that follow-up was being done to remedy the situation.
