Dschang losses mayor, Jacquis Kemleu Tchagbou!.

Mayor Jacquis Kemleu is reported to have suffered a cardiac arrest, was rushed to a Yaounde hospital, from where, he gave up the ghost.

A forward-looking and principled personality, Mayor Jacquis Kemleu died few days after returning to Cameroon from France. 

His demise came barely weeks after a court in Dschang had sentenced him to six months imprisonment and a fine of thirty million CFA francs. 

The sentence was linked to the Saptrans case, a major financial embezzlement scandal involving several local elected officials. Following his demise, several persons have been taking turns to pay him homage.

In an outing on his Facebook handle Tuesday, Kumba City Mayor, Greg Mewanu, said it was deep sorrow that he learned of the passing of Mayor Jacquis Gabriel Kemleu Tchabgou, whom he described as a “brother”.

Mayor Mewanu said the nation has lost a committed leader, a devoted public servant, and a man deeply invested in the development of his community.

He said beyond his office “I will remember him as a humble, accessible, and determined personality, driven by genuine love for his people”.

“In this moment of grief, I extend, on behalf of the Kumba City Council and in my personal capacity, my heartfelt condolences to his family, the people of Dschang, and the entire municipal community across Cameroon,” he concluded.

Dedicated life to humanity

Elected Mayor of Dschang on February 25, 2020, Jacquis Gabrile Kemleu, until his demise, had been working to transform Dschang to a first ranked economic destination. Jacquis Kemleu had described his mandate as “a mandate of challenges”.

Among the challenges, the now late mayor had cited those related to improving the quality of the electricity network, sanitation, access to drinking water through the construction of boreholes and the rehabilitation of mini drinking water supply networks, AEP.

In terms of sanitation, the Dschang Council under Jacquis Kemleu watch, initiated the “Clean Thursday” initiative, a day dedicated to keeping the city in its best condition by involving all sections of the population. 

On June 20, 2022, the Municipal Youth Council of Dschang, a platform for the promotion of youth actions in the municipality, began working.  

The operation of systematic cleaning of the city of its anarchic deposits of garbage had been initiated during the election campaign by Mayor Jacquis Kemleu. 

Since then, Mayor Kemleu included other action plans involving the youth. The action was implemented with the support of the Municipal Waste Management Agency, AMGeD.

Every Thursday, the cleaning operation applies not only to public services, but also to households and businesses installed in the urban perimeter.

The municipality of Dschang under the leadership of Mayor Kemleu also implemented a project focused on the management and valorization of household waste. 

The now late Jacquis Kemleu had shared his municipality’s experience at the Africities 9 Summit, held in Kisumu, Kenya. The summit ran from May 17 to 21, 2022.

Mayor Kemleu had shared his experience at the summit through a presentation that aroused the interest of his counterparts. 

“I can tell you that the mayors of Africa, the presidents of regions, the actors of development present in Kisumu were seduced by the presentation of the experience of the municipality of Dschang in terms of waste management and many other initiatives of sustainability. Indeed, they were edified on the capacity of the municipality of Dschang to manage the issue of sanitation and lead to the protection of the environment, the production of organic fertilizers commonly called compost, the setting in motion of the circular economy, by creating jobs and income, which are primary missions of the State, of which the municipality is only a dismemberment,” said the now late mayor in an interview.

Under the impetus of the mayor Kemleu, the city of Dschang, engaged in several partnerships in decentralised cooperation at the international level.

Mayor Kemleu: A man born to lead

The Mayor Jacquis Kemleu was born in Yaoundé on April 18, 1964. Before getting into politics, Kemleu worked as a water expert in the “Education II” project financed by the African Development Bank in Cameroon. 

In April 2007, in view of his experience in the construction of boreholes, he created Afrigroup Engineering Services and Trading to take advantage of the largely unsatisfied demand in the water sector, renewable energies and a little in civil engineering. 

Jacquis Kemleu was holder of a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Yaounde. 

He started working at the age of 25 in the production department of “Le Petit Electroménager”, a Cameroonian company established in the industrial zone of Bonaberi, his home town in the 1990s. 

At the time, it manufactured supports for fluorescent tubes. Well integrated in the activities of the Foto Kingdom from which he originates, he chaired the commission in charge of Cooperation and Communication. 

Coming from the business world, Jacquis Kemleu, until his demise was serving as the Secretary General of the Association of Oilseed Refiners of Cameroon, ASROC since 2009. 

ASROC, it should be said, is a professional organization representing the industrial palm oil refining and first-stage processing sector in Cameroon. 

It plays a major role in securing the supply of refined oil and soap, with members contributing significantly to local production and employment of approximately 6,000 jobs and over FCFA 320 billion in investments.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3748 of Wednesday April 01, 2026