Many residents woke up with their feet in the water in Yaounde due to the heavy downpour that hit the capital from Sunday evening until yesterday morning.

Armed with a bucket, Raoul Pekassa, a resident of the Melen district, leaves his four-room house, where water has invaded it following the downpour that lashed the city of Yaounde from Sunday evening until yesterday morning.

He is not alone in his task. The whole family is involved. “It was around 5am that the whole household was surprised by the entry of water. It was only the first rains and already we found ourselves with our feet in the water, mattresses and some important documents soaked.” he explains

‘‘However, we regularly clear the gutters around our house to limit the fury of the rains,” says the father. Nearby, deposits of household waste litter the gutters and the back of some homes devastated by the waters.

Plantain peelings, bottles and plastic bags carried by the rainwater from one point to another are part of the scenery.
Some swampy neighbourhoods such as Mvog-Betsi, Nkoldongo, Elig-Effa, Anguissa or Essos are not spared. In these different areas of the city, due to certain unpaved roads, the mud has made its nest, to the great displeasure of some and others.

Access to the city’s various markets has also been made extremely difficult, because they have been transformed into veritable dumps of mud and rubbish.

This is the case of the new Ekounou market located behind the courthouse. According to local residents, these floods are mostly triggered by the incivism of the population.

In spite of the prohibition of construction on soils “unfit for habitation”, many houses grow like mushrooms every day in these areas in Yaounde.