With weeks to go before Pope Leo XIV's visit to Cameroon, a conflict has erupted between Célestine Ketcha Courtes, Minister of Housing and Urban Development (Minhdu), and Luc Messi Atangana, the mayor of Yaoundé. At the heart of this dispute is the rehabilitation of the Madagascar-Cité Verte road, a strategic stretch that the papal procession is scheduled to use.
The situation reached a critical point when Célestine Ketcha Courtes, faced with accumulated delays by the company initially in charge of the work, decided to hire another company to speed up the process. This initiative was seen by the mayor of Yaoundé as interference in municipal affairs, exacerbating existing tensions.
According to several sources, the city council had granted an additional two-month extension to the initial company, postponing the completion date of the work to May 17, 2026, which is after the papal visit scheduled from April 15 to 18, 2026. This extension is justified by the non-payment of invoices to the company and the presence of concessionaire networks on the construction site, hindering the progress of the work.
The minister, anxious to meet the commitments made for the papal visit, responded by ordering the resumption of work by another company. This decision led to clashes on the ground between employees of the new company and city council workers, including police intervention and a brief detention of the workers. Célestine Ketcha Courtes denounced sabotage and demanded the release of the workers, asserting the primacy of state authority over priority infrastructure.
The Cameroonian press has seized on the affair, pointing to the cacophony at the top of the state and questioning the consequences of this conflict on the preparation of the papal visit. Some newspapers have even implored Pope Leo XIV to come and "save" Cameroon from these internal squabbles. Pope Leo XIV's visit is scheduled from April 15 to 18, 2026, and will include stops in Yaoundé, Douala and Bamenda.
Beyond this incident, this situation highlights latent institutional tensions between national and local authorities, particularly in the management of urban projects. The issue of the division of powers and responsibilities between the various players remains a major challenge for the harmonious development of Cameroonian cities. Voices are being raised to call for a clarification of the roles of each party in order to avoid such blockages in the future.
In the meantime, the Madagascar-Cité Verte road remains the focus of all attention, just weeks before the arrival of the Sovereign Pontiff.
