Colonial Administrators in Buea have revived a controversial strategy from the Ekema era, sealing business premises accused of flouting Ambazonian lockdowns and turning into ghost towns.
The latest operation has put business owners under pressure from two competing forces.
On one side, Ambazonians continue to observe lockdowns as part of the political struggle over the status of the former British Southern Cameroons.
On the other, colonial administrators are threatening businesses that comply with those directives with heavy financial penalties.
In Buea, the colonial administrator, Abba Abdouraman, reportedly moved through parts of the city accompanied by security personnel and council officials.
The operation targeted business premises that remained closed during the latest lockdown.
Reports indicate that shops were sealed in Mile 17, Molyko, Bonduma, and other parts of Buea.
Business owners whose premises were sealed are reportedly being asked to pay large sums before reopening.
Some reports put the demanded penalties as high as 500,000 CFA francs.
The development has triggered anger among business operators already struggling with the economic consequences of the prolonged conflict.
One affected business owner questioned why authorities should punish civilians for responding to a political crisis through peaceful economic action.
“We are caught between two sides,” the trader said. “If we open, we face one pressure. If we close, the administration comes after us.”
Another business operator said the financial demand could wipe out weeks of profit for a small trader.
“For a small business, 500,000 francs is not a fine. It can destroy the business,” the operator said.
The operation has also raised questions about selective enforcement.
While officials moved through parts of Buea, residents questioned why other areas were apparently left untouched.
Mile 14, Mile 15, Mile 16, Mile 18, and Muea were among areas residents said did not receive the same level of attention.
That apparent geographical selectivity has become one of the biggest talking points among Buea residents.
If the objective is to eliminate ghost towns across the municipality, residents ask why enforcement should appear concentrated in selected neighbourhoods.
The question is not new.
Buea has witnessed similar enforcement campaigns in the past.
The late Mayor Patrick Ekema Esunge became particularly associated with aggressive attempts to force businesses to open during ghost towns.
Reports from 2018 and 2019 documented the sealing of shops in areas including Molyko and Mile 17.
One report from 2019 specifically noted that neighbourhoods from Molyko towards Buea Town were sealed, while Miles 17, 16, 15, 14 and Muea were left untouched.
Another report documented the Buea Council’s use of shop sealing as a weapon against businesses observing ghost towns.
The strategy did not eliminate the phenomenon.
Instead, it created another layer of hardship for business owners operating inside an increasingly militarised political environment.
Ekema’s approach became a symbol of what critics described as strongman politics.
The late mayor publicly confronted the ghost town campaign and repeatedly used municipal enforcement to pressure traders.
Yet the continued recurrence of ghost towns demonstrated the limits of that approach.
Years later, the same pattern appears to be returning.
The difference is that the latest operation involves the administrative authorities and security forces rather than relying solely on municipal action.
The current campaign therefore raises a broader question.
Can economic punishment force civilians to abandon a political position that has survived years of military pressure?
History in Buea suggests otherwise.
Ghost towns have repeatedly returned despite arrests, shop closures, fines, and other administrative measures.
The deeper problem is that the authorities are attempting to treat a political crisis as an administrative compliance problem.
Closing a shop may force a trader to pay a fine.
It does not necessarily change the trader’s political position.
Instead, it can deepen resentment and create new victims within the civilian population.
For small businesses, the consequences are immediate.
A sealed shop means lost income.
A large penalty means depleted capital.
Lost trading days mean unpaid rent, unpaid workers, and reduced household income.
The impact also extends beyond individual traders.
When hundreds of businesses remain closed, transport operators lose customers.
Food vendors lose sales.
Suppliers lose buyers.
Landlords struggle to collect rent.
Families lose income.
The local economy therefore absorbs the cost of the confrontation.
The current operation comes days after Ambazonians observed a territory-wide lockdown beginning September 7.
The lockdown significantly disrupted socioeconomic activities as residents remained indoors in solidarity with the political struggle.
Activities resumed during the weekend suspension on September 12 and 13.
However, the reopening of businesses has now been accompanied by reports of administrative pressure against those who remained closed during the lockdown.
This has placed business owners in an increasingly difficult position.
They must calculate whether reopening protects their livelihood or exposes them to other forms of pressure.
The Buea experience also exposes a contradiction in the government’s approach.
Authorities want businesses to remain open because economic activity generates employment, taxes and commerce.
Yet aggressive sealing campaigns can destroy the very businesses that sustain the local economy.
The question therefore becomes whether punishment is producing compliance or simply transferring the cost of the conflict to civilians.
For many Buea residents, the answer appears increasingly obvious.
They say the government cannot defeat a political grievance by repeatedly punishing the people caught between competing orders.
The memory of the Ekema era remains relevant.
His aggressive ghost town campaign generated headlines and closed businesses, but it did not end the practice.
Instead, the policy became another source of confrontation between administrators and civilians.
The latest operation risks repeating that history.
As more businesses face sealing and possible fines, the pressure is no longer only political.
It is economic.
It is personal.
And it is increasingly becoming a question of survival for ordinary business owners.
For Buea traders, the immediate demand is simple.
They want to earn a living without being forced to choose between competing political authorities.
For the administration, the challenge is even greater.
It must demonstrate that its enforcement policies are consistent, lawful and applied equally across the municipality.
Otherwise, selective enforcement risks reinforcing the very distrust that has kept the conflict alive.
The streets of Buea may reopen.
The seals may eventually come off.
The fines may be paid.
But the political question behind the lockdown will remain.
And history suggests that strongman tactics alone will not make it disappear.
By Lucas Muma | BaretaNews
