Limbe, once called the City of Friendship, has become a city of frustration, corruption, and neglect under the reign of Mayor Paul Efome Ngalle. The man who now heads the Limbe City Council has lost touch with the people he claims to serve. While workers groan in hunger and residents live amid dirt, he continues to enrich himself and secure his place in the corrupt political circle of La République du Cameroun.
For ten months, council workers have gone without salaries. Ten long months of unpaid labour, yet if anyone dares to complain, a query letter awaits. The atmosphere at the council is one of fear and suffocation. “We can’t even breathe when we hear his name,” one anonymous staff member confessed. The mayor has turned the workplace into a political battlefield where loyalty to the CPDM is valued more than honesty or performance. During the recent elections, staff were threatened with demotion if they failed to vote for the ruling party.
“He forced some of us to vote CPDM against our will,” another worker explained. “Those who refused were marked for punishment.” Despite the fear tactics, Limbe’s population sent a clear message: they are tired of Paul Biya’s regime. The colonial dictator barely managed to score 40% in Limbe, a humiliating outcome in a city that used to be a CPDM stronghold. Yet, Mayor Paul Efome shamelessly paraded himself as a victorious campaign leader, celebrating his supposed “loyalty” to the regime while his people drowned in misery.
The Mayor’s leadership has been nothing but a disaster since his undemocratic appointment in 2021. When the late city mayor, Andrew Motanga Mojimba, passed away, the regime in Yaoundé did not consult the people or consider competence. Instead, they picked Paul Efome, a mere handbag-carrying councillor with no vision, no experience, and no plan. His appointment was proof that the CPDM does not reward merit but submission. And today, his amateurism is evident to all.
The roads of Limbe tell the story better than words. From Mile 2 to New Town, from Cassava Farm to Church Street, the roads are collapsing. Potholes have become landmarks, and mud floods the streets whenever it rains. The once-beautiful Limbe that used to pride itself as Cameroon’s cleanest city now reeks of filth. Garbage piles up along the roads, markets overflow with dirt, and the city smells like decay. The sanitation department is broken:
no fuel for trucks, no motivation for workers, and no accountability from the Mayor.
While Limbe rots, Paul Efome grows richer. Workers whisper about “paper contracts” — projects that exist only on paper. Contractors are paid millions for jobs never executed. “He pays his own contractors,” one staff member revealed, “but you never see the work done.” The council has become a personal business empire for the Mayor and his inner circle. Even market vendors are not spared. To get a store, one must pay up to one million francs to their agents. That’s why many stores in the new markets remain empty — ordinary people simply cannot afford the bribes.
The Mayor’s greed has no limit. He has dismissed workers for minor reasons, silenced staff delegates with threats, and instilled fear in anyone who dares to speak. Two municipal police officers were fired over a minor misunderstanding. Recently, several other workers were sacked, further worsening the tension in the already demoralised council. “We are waiting for a serious control,” one employee said. “But every time inspectors come, they just collect their own money and go.”
Limbe’s fall from grace is not by accident. It is the result of failed leadership, arrogance, and corruption. Paul Efome is not a leader; he is a parasite feeding on the suffering of the people. His loyalty to Biya’s dying regime is not about service — it is about survival. As long as he shouts “CPDM victory,” he keeps his seat and his privileges, even as the people starve.
The once-vibrant city that welcomed visitors with smiles now greets them with stench and potholes. Limbe is dying slowly, and its decay mirrors the collapse of the entire colonial system imposed by Yaoundé. Paul Efome and his likes are the reason the people of the Southern Zone continue to reject the lies of La République. The time has come for accountability. The people of Limbe deserve light, salaries, clean streets, and dignity — not fear, filth, and endless deceit.
