Kumbo water crisis now in court

The water crises in Kumbo, Bui Division in the North West Region which has been the center of controversy for months opposing the Fon of Nso, His Royal Highness Sehn Mbinglo 1, the Mayor of Kumbo, Njong Donatus and the Nso Development Association each claiming ownership of the distribution and collection of water bills in the municipality is now in court. As the confusion reigns, there are two functional structures. One at the Fon's palace for Nso Community Water [NCW] and another controlled by the Kumbo Council under the auspices of the Kumbo Water Authority {KWA}.

Cameroon Concord understands the Fon in a law suit *Royal Proclamation on the KWA* of 10/2/2008 and another on 26/10/2015 denounced an earlier memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister and the Governor of the Region by the Mayor of Kumbo claiming the population drinks dirty water, suffers from high water bills and the lack of public taps in the municipality. The Fon says the water in Kumbo was a gift from the Canadian government through their son the late Bernard Fonlon and requires that the palace controls the distribution of the precious liquid adding that the Mayor is alleged to have swindled some money aimed at ameliorating the water situation in Kumbo.

Reacting to these allegations by the Palace and the Nso Development Authority, Mayor Njong Donatus during a council session of 5/11/2015 denied all claims saying the Kumbo council stands a better chance in supplying portable water to the population and regretted that because of the Fons intransigence, the population has gone for close to three months without drinking water as the Palace on July 5th this year chased away workers of the KWA from their office by putting fetish concoction on the door. The Mayor further informed councilors that a motion has been filed in the Bui High Court praying that the institution should stop the illegal activities going on at the Fon Palace and denied earlier claims that he had taken the Fon to court.

It is vital to include in this report that when the water project in this locality was commissioned by the Canadians, an attempt by the country’s defunct water corporation, SNEC to take over attracted a violent reaction from the population whereby the office of the company was shattered. Since then, the management of drinking water in Kumbo has been controversial. Attempts by the Bui administration including that of the Governor of the Region, Lele L`Afrique to resolve the stalemate have all met with a stone wall. The confusion over who controls the distribution of the water supply in Kumbo is far from being over.