Centre Region: Kikot-Mbébé dam construction double-edged sword on population.

In view of realising the Kikot-Mbébé Hydroelectric Power dam, government reached a Public Private Partnership, PPP, deal with the Électricité de France, EDF, to co-develop the dam project. 

The deal resulted in the creation the Kikot-Mbebe Hydro Power Company, KHPC, on September 25, 2023, with each party having 50 percent shares to implement the project.

While seen as a blessing to both the surrounding population and Cameroon as a general, the surrounding communities are set to endure horrific experiences.

The villages immediately impacted by the project include Kikot, Tombi, Nkong-Mango, Ossebé, Ntol, Mbébé, Binoum, and Ndomdjengue.

The villagers will be heavily affected as they are set to leave their source of livelihood, loose their farmlands and ancestral sites as well as to the point of losing connection with their ancestors as some villagers are said to relocated. 

Contrary to the initial acceptance of the project at the level of their various communities when it was announced by the President of the Republic, the population are getting more concerned by the day as the project picks steam.

“I welcomed this dam construction project with great pride from the moment the Head of State announced it. I believe it was a good decision, if I am not mistaken,” the Chief of Kikot village, Alain Florent Lissougue, said. 

“We have a lot of concerns about this project because when an investment like the dam comes along, the people of Kikot will be affected. We are going to be relocated from the village,” Chief Lissougue added.

Beside the uncertainty about where their new village will be, the traditional ruler also expressed worries, especially about the youth, who will be deprived of their various life sustaining activities.

“We want the place where we are going to be resettled to be as good as the place we had before. We would even like to be given a map so that we can film our village to show our grandchildren what their village was like. We also hope that the young people of my village, who will be affected, will find work at KHPC,” Chief Lissougueadded.

According to His Majesty Mbock Donatien of Tombi village, the youth of his community have been given little or no opportunity so far at the KHPC company and deprived of cultivating their farmlands.

“...it appears that most of us, the affected populations, no longer have any space to cultivate. We live mainly from agriculture and fishing, but this is really difficult for us. I can say that we no longer have access to our farmland,” the traditional ruler said.

Chief Mbock bemoaned that despite reaching out to the company and administrative authorities of the area, they have had no positive response. 

“We are told that we can no longer do so...we are told that we must cultivate crops that only last three months and we are experiencing enormous difficulties today in feeding our families,” Chief Mbock told The Guardian Post.

Bot-Makak Mayor weighs in

Noting that the population of Bot-Makak and Nyong and Kelle Division welcomed the Kikot-Mbébé hydroelectric dam project with great pride, the Mayor of Bot-Makak, Jean Pascal Nken Nemb, pointed that the project upon completion, will help in curbing the current electricity shortage in country.

When quizzed on his awareness of the impacts of the project on the community, the municipal authority admitted that any project of such magnitude is bound to have certain consequences on the surrounding population with relocation inevitable. 

“When people are born somewhere, they grow up there, they plant crops there, they spend their whole lives in a village, so relocating them is not easy,” the mayor acknowledged, before assuring that his office is already working with administrative authorities on finding a definitive solution as to where and how to relocate the villagers.

In addition, the primary economic activity of the villages of Mbébé and Tombi under Bot-Makak Subdivision, sand digging, is expected to be shut down. 

According to the mayor, the sand diggers, loaders, and others in the sand value chain will be seriously affected, especially those from Yaounde who will have to source their sand from elsewhere.

“Now that this will no longer exist, you can understand what this will mean for the many young people who supported or fed their families from the income generated from the sand business,” the mayor explained. 

When asked if the council will equally be affected by the project, Mayor Nemb said: “The municipality of Bot-Makak derives a large part of its income from sand. So, the fact that these people are being relocated will have a direct impact on our revenues because these people will no longer be able to pay council tax for artisanal sand mining”.

Nearly 400 households affected in Bot-Makak municipality 

The municipal authority has revealed that nearly 400 households will be directly affected across the two villages within Bot-Makak.

“Looking at the population, we can estimate that nearly 400 households will be affected in the two villages of the Bot-Makak subdivision. These 400 households will have to be relocated from their current locations to other sites. They will have to abandon their activities, their ancestors and everything else to start over elsewhere,” he said.

He added that: “Where we are going to relocate them, we are going to move the graves. We are going to remove the remains of their parents and ancestors to go and bury them again where they will be settled”. 

With the Bot-Makak Subdivision covering a land surface of nearly 2,500 km² with most of the areas still uninhabited, he assured that many sites have already been identified, but the period and allocated land for each village is yet to be decided.

Tripartite meeting to assess project impact

On June 12 and 13, a tripartite meeting was organised at the premises of Bot-Makak Council attended by key stakeholders including local administrative authorities from the four concerned divisions, the KHPC company and representatives of affected communities. 

The meeting was inspired by Green Development Advocates, GDA, a local environmental organisation, which has carries out actions aimed at social justice, sustainable use of natural resources, respect for the interests of stakeholders, and the development and implementation of policies. 

GDA Project Manager, Jean Henri Tsogo Awona, explained that the workshop was the culmination of a series of activities they carried out with the communities. 

“This workshop is a way of sharing information with the various stakeholders, including the administration, but also the communities and the company. The work we have done is to facilitate dialogue between the various stakeholders,” Tsogo said. 

A cartographic map of each village of the villages to be affected by the dam project was presented during the information sharing workshop with a particular focus on their way of life, habitats, farmlands and ancestral sites, and how these aspects have to be taken into consideration for compensation and in the relocation plan.

“In the resolutions that came out, there were communities that presented problems and, in the course of these problems, they presented how they think these problems should be solved…the authorities were there and have listened to them, and so have the company KHPC which is implementing the project,” the GDA Project Manager added. 

KHPC representative react

The KHPC representative at the meeting, Chimene Fouda, expressed delight for the fruitful discussions that will contribute to the sustainable development of the communities.

“We ensure that the interests of the communities as well as the interests of the project are maintained,” she remarked during the meeting. 

Fouda equally expressed the company’s willingness listen to all suggestions that will improve and ensure the Kikot-Mbébé Hydroelectric Power dam project thrives.