As work progressing on Ring Road: NW works delegate hints on imminent tarring of Wum-Bamenda stretch.

Currently in a state of dilapidation, with movements virtually impossible for vehicles and other automobiles, the Wum- Bamenda stretch of road, which is part of the larger Ring Road project spanning across six of the Region’s seven Divisions, has in recent years been a source of frustration and public anger.

Repeated promises for its tarring have often not been fulfilled for years, leaving commuters groaning. 

However, there are visible signs of hope in the horizon. 

The North West Regional Delegate of Public Works, Nfor Cyprian Ngenge, has said the stretch of road is now among government’s top priorities.

While no date has been announced for the commencement of works on the stretch, the Regional Delegate has disclosed that the contract will soon be awarded.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Guardian Post on the sidelines of the semi-Annual Conference of Central and Devolved Services of the Ministry of Public Works, which took place in Yaounde last Thursday, Cyprian Nfor revealed that the finalisation of the contract procedure for the project is far advanced.

The Public Works Regional boss told The Guardian Post that: “…the programmation or procedure for the award of the contract is in process. You know the award of the contract for the Ring Road is being done progressively, but now because of the traffic between Bamenda and Wum, we might skip Misaje-Weh-Wum. We have put a maintenance programme on Misaje-Weh-Wum for this year. With the maintenance programme we have put there, we will rather programme the construction of the Bamenda-Wum road. 

He, however, quickly added that “…for now, I cannot say the exact date for the start of works but the contractualisation process is being considered”.

“We have sections of the Ring Road; Bambili-Ndop-Babessi-Babungo…there, we have put a maintenance programme on it but we think that the contractualisation process too will equally be looked into. For Babungo-Oku, the contract tender has been launched…we are waiting for the publication of the results.” 

State of roads in North West

Speaking earlier while commenting on the overall state of roads in the North West Region, the Regional Delegate boasted that most of the roads in the North West Region are passable.

He nonetheless noted that “we still have roads that we need to put much effort and ensure that the contractors who have been mobilised accelerate works because when the rain comes, it will be a big challenge”.

Speaking further, the delegate explained that: “We have our major projects, which are the Ring Road and Bamenda Urban Crossing. I think that we are doing much on these stretches. A lot of work is ongoing. Contractors are mobilised and we believe that before the rains, much would have been done. For the Urban Crossing, we were above 9.5% as of last Friday. The most critical work is for us to construct all the drainage structures, including box culverts, the bridges…when we construct that even with the rains, we will not have a big challenge. We want to take advantage of this dry season and construct most of the structures”.

He was confident that: “We will deliver on time; that is why you would have noticed that we are subjecting the people to a lot of inconveniences because we want to catch up. We have deviated most of the roads at Sonac Street, Meta Quarters, Ngeng Junction…but we are doing this because we want to avoid the rains”.

He said: “For the Ecole des Champions-Amour Mezam Road, we are done with the gutters…we are only managing challenges with a section of the population that feels that the entrances to their residences might have been touched and other little problems that are not purely technical…some feel that they were not adequately compensated. But that is administrative and we are handling it”.

“We believe that if the Urban Crossing that is from Amour Mezam to Hospital Roundabout can go through, that will be a major breakthrough for us,” he added.

“We have the visit of the Pope that has been earmarked for the days ahead…so we are equally doing a lot of work to that effect. We are arranging the road from Hospital Roundabout to the airport. We have some other stretches that we have identified and are going to arrange them,” he also said.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3700 of Tuesday February 10, 2026