Old trucks without brakes and even without any form of technical visits, are now dictating the rules and regulations on the roads in Cameroon. If you happen to drive on a Cameroonian road, make sure that no truck rolls after you. If so, drive up quickly. Otherwise you risk your life and that of the passengers with you because in Cameroon, trucks always have priority. They are the kings of the road. Like elephants in the forest, they are feared.

Generally, these trucks have no brakes or technical records. Truck drivers, aware of the threat posed by the large vehicles they drive, do not always follow the rules of the Highway Traffic Act. They have the blessing of the police whose corrupt agents are satisfied with the banknotes they receive from passing trucks. Trucks drivers horn everywhere even in front of hospitals. It does not matter if there are patients whose situation demands some tranquility.

The only thing that Cameroonian truck drivers have to do is figure out the maximum they can earn on a daily basis, if necessary to the detriment of human life. Several accidents resulting in the death of hundreds of people are caused by truck drivers. Old and expired trucks from Europe and the Arab world have flooded the Wouri Bridge, Ndogkoti and several other districts of Douala and Yaoundé including other cities in the North.

By Rita Akana with files from Koaci.com