The Mayor of Yaounde, Luc Messi Atangana, has initiated an operation to clear Kennedy Avenue of informal street vendors. This action follows numerous warnings and awareness campaigns directed towards merchants illegally occupying this public space.
Mr. Atangana personally went to the site to oversee the eviction of vendors anarchically installed on Kennedy Avenue. Faced with the defiance of some traders, municipal authorities proceeded to seize equipment and destroy goods, in accordance with regulations.
Through this operation, the municipality of Yaounde reaffirms the ban on illegally occupying the public highway and its determination to put an end to urban disorder in the capital. The mayor reiterated that developed spaces are available at the Ongola market, where traders are invited to carry out their activities in compliance with urban planning and hygiene regulations.
"The city must remain orderly, accessible and secure for all," the Yaounde city council said in a statement. The municipality plans to continue its efforts to free public land illegally occupied. This operation comes in a context where the anarchic occupation of Kennedy Avenue is denounced as a source of theft, assault and various trafficking. Previous efforts to resolve this decades-long problem had been unsuccessful.
In January 2025, the mayor had already issued a similar ultimatum to street vendors occupying sidewalks. In 2023, he gave 10 days for owners of abandoned vehicles to remove them from public spaces, or risk having them seized and scrapped.
Luc Messi Atangana's determination to transform Kennedy Avenue into a modern site, potentially with acoustic and tourist functions, is clear.
