The inhabitants of Buea, South West region had a hard time going about their activities on Sunday October 5, 2025, owing to a heavy downpour. Following prolonged lockdown imposed by separatist fighters in the region, many had hoped to use the weekend for their purchases and other errands as has always been the case. However, these plans were interrupted by heavy downpour that lasted for hours.
Among those who bore the brunt of the rains, were traders of perishable products,. Speaking to Camer Today, a tomato trader at the Muea market noted that the rains ruined most of her produce and still left her with almost no customers: “Half of three baskets of tomatoes have gone into water. This is so frustrating, not because it has never rained heavily but because I expected to make great profits from today’s business”, she explained
Her frustration was shared by a clothes vendor who too had hoped to make profits over the weekend.
“All the clothes my customers ordered have been stained by the rain and I am about to incur losses because these clothes have to be dry cleaned before they are sold” he stated.
The inhabitants were further frustrated when the rain stopped at dusk when certain activities could no longer take place. Many missed out on restocking their homes for the week, others postponed their trips and the few who could make it out faced difficulties heading home.
Ghost town: the real downpour
For Over eight years today, the English-speaking regions of Cameroon have been going through a separatist armed conflict. As has always been the case during school resumption and election periods, separatists have once more compelled residents of the regions to stay indoors, with short breaks only accorded over the weekends. To them, it is a way of compelling the Yaounde regime to meet their demands. Citizens who carry about their activities are in most cases, attacked, abducted, maimed or even killed.
Activists and advocates alike however maintain that the method remains counterproductive, and only punishes the same citizenry their cause claims to fight for. According to a report by GICAM estimatedthat ghost towns and lockdowns reduced wealth creation in the North-West & South-West regions by around 30%, amounting to about 777.26 billion CFA francs.
Between the devil and deep blue sea
Administrative authorities too have made it a point to seal shops of traders who respect the separatists-imposed lockdown. From imposing fines to sealing shops, municipal authorities have remained resolute, with the belief that this will compel business owners to defy separatists and get to work.
With the prevailing situation, Sunday’s downpour only added insult to injury, robbing the population of one more day.
The heavy downpour left the inhabitants in displeasure and in doubt about how they were going to survive a week without having done what they planned to do.