Cameroon: Biya orders more heads to roll after release of Eseka inquiry report

Officials of the Cameroon Railway Corporation (CAMRAIL) are on brink following the release of the report of the commission of Enquiry that was set up by President Paul Biya to investigate the cause(s) of the Eseka train accident that killed over 150 persons on October 21, 2016.

After going through the report, President Paul Biya has ordered for the heads of CAMRAIL officials who caused the train accident to roll.

The presidential ultimatum is contained in a recent press release issued by the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

The finding of the inquiry commission which was headed by Prime Minister, Philemon Yang, has placed the accident at the door steps of CAMRAIL.

It is based on the commission’s report that Biya demanded that appropriate sanctions should be meted out on those responsible for the accident.

On the situation of the accident victims, Biya instructed CAMRAIL to compensate the families of the deceased as soon as possible and for the disbursement of 1 billion FCFA to the victims of the accident.

The commission’s report also faulted CAMRAIL for the non respect of some safety rules. According to the report, the unlucky train did not only have undue extension of coaches, but was also overloaded.

“CAMRAIL did not do proper pre-departure inspection of the train’s brakes system,” the report stated.

Biya further ordered for the opening of discussions among CAMRAIL partners for stronger State presence in the company and greater focus on passengers’ safety.

“There should be an establishment of railway heritage management which will be responsible for maintaining the railway network and implementing modernisation and extension projects and there should be the enhancement of the national major disaster and risk prevention and management system.

The President also ordered for the construction of a national edifies in Eseka.

The Eseka train accident happened on October 21, 2016, after a culvert at Manyai collapsed, impeding circulation on the Douala-Yaounde highway.