Cameroon's roads: Time for accountability, not another round of excuses.

Journeys that should be predictable has become exhausting ordeals, with potholes, deteriorating surfaces, damaged sections and, during the rainy season, hazards which have turned an already difficult journey into a dangerous gamble.

The troubling question; how did a country with engineering schools, trained engineers, technical institutions, government agencies and experienced road construction companies arrive at this point? This is the question we can no longer avoid.

Road construction is expensive. Road maintenance is equally expensive. But what should concern citizens is not simply how much government spends. It is what the country gets for the money spent. 

A road constructed or rehabilitated at considerable public expense should be expected perform according to its technical specifications and intended service life. If serious defects appear prematurely, there must be a credible explanation. Was the problem in the design? Were the materials appropriate and properly tested? Was the foundation adequately prepared? Was drainage properly designed and maintained? Was construction properly supervised? Did the contractor meet the contractual specifications? Was the work properly inspected and accepted? Were maintenance obligations enforced?

These are not accusations. They are legitimate questions about public expenditure and professional responsibility. A contractor should not automatically be blamed for every failed road. Nor should government officials, engineers or consultants be condemned without evidence. 

But neither should anyone involved in the chain of road delivery be automatically protected when the evidence points to failure. Accountability must follow the evidence.

The situation becomes even more frightening when it rains. Water fills potholes and conceals their depth and location. Drivers see, especially at night, what appears to be a normal stretch of road, only to discover too late that a deep pothole lies beneath the water. 

The driver is then faced with an impossible choice: hit the hidden pothole or suddenly swerve and risk colliding with another vehicle. This is how our roads defect have become road-safety hazard. The potholes damage tyres, wheels and suspension systems. 

Sudden manoeuvres can cause loss of control and collisions. For passengers, commercial drivers and families traveling between major cities, the consequences can be severe with reported cases of accidents and deaths every other day.

Rainfall itself is not the problem. Cameroon is a tropical country; heavy rainfall is a foreseeable condition that road design, drainage and maintenance systems must take into account.

The question is whether our roads are being built and maintained for the conditions in which Cameroonians actually use them. What is particularly troubling is the apparent cycle: construction, deterioration, potholes, emergency repairs, deterioration again and another request for maintenance funding. Maintenance is necessary. 

Roads naturally deteriorate and require periodic intervention. But when the same sections repeatedly fail, the country must stop and ask why. Maintenance become a permanent drain on public resources rather than an instrument for preserving public infrastructure. 

The government need to undertake a comprehensive, independent and technically credible audit of these roads. The audit should examine the entire project life cycle, from feasibility studies and design to procurement, construction, supervision, payment, acceptance, maintenance and subsequent deterioration. Modern technology makes this possible. Geographic information systems, satellite imagery, digital road inventories, geotagged photographs, pavement testing and electronic contract records can help establish a reliable history of individual road sections. The objective should not be witch-hunting. It should be evidence-based accountability.

Parliament also has a critical role to play. Road expenditure should not end with the approval of a budget. Legislators should follow the money and the results.

The relevant parliamentary committees should demand answers from the Ministry of Public Works, the Road Fund, contractors, consultants and other responsible institutions. What was promised? What was built? What was paid? What failed? Why did it fail? And what happened afterwards?

These questions should be asked not to create political theatre, but to protect the public purse. Where a contractor has failed to meet contractual obligations, the applicable remedies should be pursued. Where supervision was inadequate, responsibility should be examined. Where unlawful conduct is established, the competent authorities should act. Where the work was properly executed but subsequently damaged by exceptional circumstances, that too should be established by technical evidence.

Our country does not lack engineers. It does not lack institutions. It does not lack experience. What we must examine is whether our systems of planning, procurement, supervision, maintenance and enforcement are delivering the quality that citizens have a right to expect.

A kilometer of road should not be measured only by its inauguration. The real test should be how the road performs months and years later. A successful road project is not one that looks impressive on inauguration day. 

It is one that continues to serve motorists safely and efficiently after the cameras have disappeared. Cameroonians are not asking for luxury roads. They are asking for roads that are safe, durable, properly engineered and responsibly maintained.

The government must provide answers. Parliament must exercise oversight. Technical institutions must do their work. Contractors and consultants must meet their obligations. Where failure or wrongdoing is established, accountability must follow. 

Our roads cannot continue to be treated as endless construction sites and endless sources of expenditure. The time has come to move from road construction to road accountability.

By Nyoh Moses: He is a Media Communication Consultant/Regulation & Compliance Analyst, Environmental Justice Specialist

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3923 of Monday September 28, 2026