Cameroon: A Layman’s Journey to Lebialem from Dschang on Motorbike.

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

Lebialem, Cameroon – “It is not the easiest but it is not a difficult journey. Please, just bear with us, the road is not the best.” This is the caution dolled to the various volunteers, partners and media men and women on Tuesday, March 5, as we prepared ourselves to take the challenging journey from Dschang to Lebialem on motorbikes.

The scene is the Diamond Agency in Dschang, West Region as a team of volunteers, medical doctors, and media among others prepare to head to Fontem for a free Medical Mission/Health Campaign organized by the Focolare Movement/Mary Health of Africa Hospital Fontem supported by LECUDO-USA in Lebialem Division of the South West Region of Cameroon.

My heart was pounding. Fear and trepidation got hold of me as we were about to enter Lebialem Division, a Division that was once feared and seen as a no-go area for many out of the volatile area. Lebialem is still a volatile area but life seems to go on unperturbed, though timidly.

A road that badly needs attention

To say the road leading into Lebialem is in a sad state will be an understatement. The main pathway into Lebialem from Dschang is a total nightmare. Travelling from Dschang to Menji, Wanbane and Alou requires nerves of steel. The journey from Dschang to Lewoh is not too bad but it gets worse from this point entering Lebialem.

The swerving and meandering nature of the road is plagued with numerous obstacles for those plying the road. The fancy cars driven in most towns and cities cannot enter Lebialem with only specialized Hilux vehicles and motorbikes, the moods of transportation for inhabitants of the area.

The use of the motorbikes to and from Lebialem does not come cheap. Imagine a trip from Buea to Yaounde using the various bus agencies available, using the former transport fare and not the present one. That is how much it takes from someone in Lebialem to reach Dschang and back. This current situation makes it difficult for life to operate normally in the area, talk less of shops for basic amenities.

Known for its biodiversity riches, the Lebialem Division hosts the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary and Proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary with great wildlife species and ecotourism potential. It is also known for its agricultural prowess. Unfortunately, a very bad road network, and epileptic electricity supply have made life unbearable for the people living in the area.

"We could have been having a much higher population than we have now but the issue of the road is the problem. This means people cannot travel down here well and the cost of travelling to is very expensive," Ghilung Paul said.

Uninhabited houses welcome you

Going deep into Lebialem, my motorbike driver who we will call Abdou for security reasons shows me the Fon of Fontem’s palace, a palace that is almost unrecognizable to someone visiting the area for the first time. The Fons Palace from a distance has been almost completely overwhelmed by trees.

Though many of the houses remain deserted, with trees having taken over, some inhabitants have still braved the odds to remain in their birth place.

The ongoing Anglophone crisis in the North West and South West Regions has caused an untold suffering on the lives of inhabitants of the area, who mostly depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

In 2023, at least 300 deaths were recorded; at least 100 days of ghost towns called by separatist fighters; more than 500 people arbitrarily arrested and at least 200 persons kidnapped with at least 150 arson incidents recorded

At least six thousand civilians have been killed by both government and non-state armed groups since late 2016 in the North West and South West regions, as separatist fighters seek to create an independent state for the minority Anglophone regions. CHRDA has consistently faulted both Cameroon’s defence and security forces and separatist fighters for carrying out human rights abuses with the crisis in its seventh year.

With the present crisis in its seventh year, and no signs of it coming to an end anytime soon, inhabitants hope that one day Lebialem will bounce back on its feet and will regain its lost glory.