Mutengene: CDC condemns land encroachment, felling of palm trees in Esuke.

Management of the CDC has been pointing fingers at individuals claiming to represent the Mutengene Muslim Community. 

The incident, which occurred early Thursday morning, has raised fresh concerns about attempts to circumvent a 2020 Presidential decree suspending all land surrender by CDC. 

The corporation says the encroachers destroyed 52 young oil palm trees, noting that under Prime Ministerial Decree of 25 February 2023, compensation is pegged at 5,000 FCFA per tree. Officials say the monetary value is secondary to the human cost.

“In this particular area, felling these hectares of land, about 58 families will be affected with the uprooting. The real CDC is the plantation, and plantations in areas like this have become even more important today because there are certain areas of CDC, which are not 100% accessible,” said CDC General Manager, Franklin Ngoni Njie.

The GM explained that the corporation could not operate 100% in Malende, Mapanja and in other estates. He has warned that felling of palm trees threatens government efforts to revive the agro-industrial giant. 

“When we face a situation like this, where young palm trees in their prime production age are being felled, it is life-threatening. It is the best way to frustrate all government efforts to revamp the CDC,” the GM continued.

He regretted that such an action comes at a time when the corporation, is just from putting up a mini mill in Moliwe.

The mini mill, he said, would starve if such actions persist “because the palm fruits that the mill is supposed to process come from the area that is under destruction”.

Legal argument from CDC

CDC officials insisted that no legal surrender has engaged with the Muslim community in Mutengene. 

Kebbi Ekwile, Property Manager of the CDC cited a correspondence from the Presidency on the suspension of all land surrenders in Fako and parts of the South West Region. The correspondence, he said, is dated September 22, 2020.

“…for any surrender, they must have authorization from the Presidency. The Presidency has not given any authorization,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, CDC GM has maintained that the corporation remains ready to surrender land if a request follows the laid-down procedure. 

“It is true that CDC will continue to be subjected to pressure as far as land occupation is concerned,” he said, stressing that: “But it is also true that we live in a state of law. Every action, every development, if it is not guided by law, will drive into anarchy, which nobody wants”.

GM refutes claims of mobilising security forces

According to CDC workers on site, police, gendarmerie officers and military personnel who threatened the CDC workers on the field, escorted the encroachers. 

The act was led by fifteen chainsaw operators most of them from Douala according to eyewitness accounts. The workers narrated that most of the chainsaw operators in Mutengene approached by the perpetrators, rejected destroying the palms.

Speaking to reporters on the issue, CDC General Manager, Franklin Ngoni Njie refuted claims that the corporation mobilized security forces. He explained that military presence on CDC estates is routine due to insecurity. 

“There is a contingent of military men to protect our workers. The soldiers who went there this morning went to assess the agitation. CDC did not mobilize soldiers to go there. On the contrary, the other people organized soldiers to come and protect them,” he stated.

CDC Property Manager, Kebbi Ekwile, said CDC security personnel were instructed to stop the felling due to the fact that the area had not been surrendered. 

He clarified that the Muslim community applied for the land in 2023 “but it was made very clear to them that it is not possible for the area to be recommended for surrender because the palms are just 10 years old and are in their prime”. The official also disputed the legitimacy of those leading the operation. 

What the administration is saying

On the position of the administration of the South West region and Fako Division, the CDC GM disclosed that: “In my exchanges so far, the administration is of the opinion that the occupants have valid documents to occupy the land, which we contest”. 

However, he has maintained that the CDC will continue to engage authorities to protect its estates and the livelihoods of thousands of workers who depend on the corporation.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3885 of Friday August 21, 2026