Bamenda City Council Clears Commercial Avenue Ahead of Papal Visit

The Bamenda City Council has begun dismantling illegal and obstructive structures along the city’s busy commercial avenue, in a clean-up exercise aimed at restoring order and sanitation ahead of the anticipated visit of Pope Leo XIV to the North West regional capital.

The operation started on Monday, March 16, despite the weekly ghost town that left much of the Bamenda city centre unusually quiet. The exercise targets the stretch of road from City Chemist to the T-Junction, where makeshift market stalls, roadside structures and other items encroaching on the road space and gutters are being removed.

Leading the operation was the Mayor of the Bamenda City Council, Achobong Tembeng Paul, accompanied by the council’s technical team and members of the Bamenda Army Rescue Unit. More than 600 volunteers joined the effort, sweeping the streets, clearing the green lanes and removing waste and debris from the drainage channels.

According to Mayor Achobong Tembeng Paul, the initiative is part of a broader campaign to sanitize the city and ensure that public spaces remain free of waste and illegal occupation.

 “We are cleaning the commercial avenue. We are taking away whatever is on the commercial avenue which is considered garbage. We are taking it from the streets to the dump site,” the mayor said during the exercise.

He stressed that shop owners and traders must take responsibility for keeping the surroundings of their businesses clean.

 “The commercial avenue is still stocking garbage around its premises. If they have anything in the form of garbage they should clear it because when I come around next time, I will collect it and ask them to pay a penalty,” he warned.

While the clean-up forms part of the council’s routine urban management, the mayor acknowledged that the upcoming papal visit has provided renewed momentum for the initiative.

 “The Pope’s visit is an impetus, a catalyst. It is something that activates the cleaning,” he explained.

The clean-up campaign is therefore seen as one of several preparations taking place in Bamenda ahead of the historic visit of Pope Leo XIV, expected to attract thousands of faithful and visitors to the city.

Municipal authorities say the exercise will continue in other parts of the city in the coming days as the council intensifies efforts to improve sanitation, restore order along major streets and present a cleaner environment for residents and visitors alike.