Mutengene: Population barricades road in protest over months of blackout.

The protesters are pressing on authorities of electricity supply company and other local administrative and municipal authorities to do the needful and restore electricity before the start of end-of-year festivities. 

The irate residents mounted barricades to block circulation of vehicles across the major road. The move, they insisted, is the only means to vent their anger after going nine months without electricity. 

Demonstrators, wielding placards messages decrying their plight and chanting slogans, halted traffic, paralysing local economic activities and movements. 

Talking to the press during the protest, a barber explained that the issue of electricity has frustrated him. The barber said he is unable to make a living because of the prolonged blackout. 

“I have been unable to do my job as a DJ and a barber for nine months because of electricity. All my equipment are bad,” he stated, while expressing the desire to see the issue resolved almost immediately.

On his part, Otia Pius, a resident of Mutengene, explained that the prolonged blackout has further compounded their challenges of insecurity and lack of potable water. 

“We need electricity because our businesses are closing down and insecurity is on the rise. We need electricity for order to return to our community,” Otia stated. 

Mbeh Matias, another resident, said children are unable to study with ease like their peers in other parts of the country due to the lack of electricity. 

“We want electricity, we have not had it for nine months and our children attend school and are unable to study. We have been to the ENEO office many times and they keep promising us but never fulfilling from Quarter 9 to Quarter 13,” Mbeh recounted. 

Administration promises urgent solution 

Addressing the protesters, the Divisional Officer, DO, of Tiko, Nokuri Samuel Nokpa, told them that he understands their frustration. 

The administrator said the challenge of electricity in Fako Division is preoccupying for all local authorities. He revealed that ENEO had promised to send 17 new transformers to address the challenges faced in Buea, Mutengene and Tiko. 

The DO encouraged protesters to return home peacefully while giving ENEO the benefit of doubt to address the eternal issue. 

“…the administration is putting pressure to ensure the return of electricity,” the Divisional Officer assured the population. 

The outburst in Mutengene is just the tip of the iceberg as Buea, the Regional capital of the South West, like most towns and cities in the Region, face severe endemic electricity problems. 

In Buea, neighbourhoods such as Muea, have experienced power outages lasting almost a year, while others including Malingo, Sandpit, Bonduma, Limbe Quarter, Mekongi, Mile 17, Back GCE Board, Saint Luke, and Mayor Street, Mekongi and others have endured months without electricity. 

The electricity problem often stems from the absence of transformers, old electric pools collapsing or trivial operational challenges within the local electricity distribution system. 

Most denizens are laying the blame at the door-steps of the electricity company, ENEO, for its failure to maintain infrastructure and respect scheduled maintenance programmes, which exacerbates the outages. 

The outages have negative effects on households, businesses, healthcare, and education, intensifying the hardship of daily life. 

Many residents in different parts of the South West Region, have lodged numerous complaints, but response and solutions from the electricity providers have been slow or inadequate.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3650 of Tuesday December 09, 2025