There is sadness on the faces of the customers and the employees are speaking of additional work carried out manually. This is the situation of the banking sector in Southern Cameroons following the decision by La Republique du Cameroun to shut down internet services in the region. The situation is becoming more and more unbearable for banks and financial institutions located in the cities of Bamenda, Buea, Limbe, Kumba, Mamfe, Tiko, Muyuka, Kumbo, Wum and Ndop.

Our chief economic reporter in Bamenda revealed that customers of these banks and other micro financial structures can no longer cope with the queue and many eventually walk away after long hours waiting to be served. A senior aide to the Prime Minister and Head of Government hinted Cameroon Intelligence Report that “the only solution to the problem is the return of the Internet in Southern Cameroons.” The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications is maintaining a kind of deliberate silence as rumor within government circles now have it that the decision to disconnect the internet has instead harden up the Anglophones and recruited pro CPDM militants to join the struggle.

Yaoundé has kept on switching the internet on and off to allow the banks to function during peak periods. The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has announced that ghost town operations will continue every Mondays and Tuesdays and there are plans to stage the greatest boycott ever against La Republique on the 11^th of February.

By Staff Lady Rita Akana