The Yaounde City Council wants to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP).

It is within this framework that it has conducted an operation to break up businesses installed on the Kennedy Avenue, a very popular commercial artery in the capital. “The SUMP  is particularly concerned with the pedestrianization of the city centre, and more specifically Kennedy Avenue,” explains the CUY’s communications department. In other words, the idea is to develop this avenue into a pedestrian-only artery.

The project goes further, however, as it includes the development of car parks to relieve congestion on the avenue. “The studies have been completed and the procurement procedure is underway for the imminent start of the work,” the mayor of Yaoundé was told. In addition, municipal officials explain that the evicted traders have been redirected to the newly built Ongola market for their reclassification.

It has been more than a year since Kennedy Avenue was closed to traffic. The traders installed on this artery have been warned of their imminent eviction. A little more than 24 hours before the operation, the mayor Luc Messi Atangana personally went down the avenue to urge the last traders to vacate the right of way. “The owners had emptied their shops well before our arrival, and were on the spot, to say that they were waiting for us”, we learn from the communication service of the Yaounde City Council .