The Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe, has just suspended the activities of urban transport of people via the digital platform Yango “until further notice”.

In a press release signed today, Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe justifies this decision by the non-respect by the Russian platform of the legislation governing road transport in Cameroon, notably the law of July 2001 on the professions of road transporters and auxiliaries of road transport.

This suspension accentuates the illegality of hundreds of Yango drivers. These ‘clandestine transporters’ are called upon by the minister ‘to comply without delay’ with the provisions of the law of October 2022, which sets out the conditions of access to the road transport profession.

In September 2022, the Minister of Transport ordered the operator Yango to comply with transport regulations, failing which the platform’s activities would be suspended. The government asked Yango to set up a head office or a branch, a representation or a joint venture, to register with the tax authorities, to make a declaration to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, to indicate the price, taxes and other charges that make up the structure of the price of the service rendered to customers…

“We do not own or hire a single taxi. Instead, we partner with local independent transport companies to help Cameroonian businesses grow. Yango allows them to renew their fleet to ensure more comfortable and even safer journeys for Cameroonians,” Yango’s country manager, Didier Theze, defended himself at the time.

Note that the suspension of Yango comes less than a week after the increase in fuel prices. An increase that infuriated the taximen, who were already upset with Yango and demanded that it stop its activities. The taxi unions reproach Yango for operating in the road transport sector without paying the taxes that go with it and for siphoning off their customers.