People who look at us from the outside call us the “continent”, and yet they do not know that we live mostly in darkness. Because in reality, electricity has become an incredibly rare commodity here in Cameroon…
A continent of load shedding
Did I even know the word load shedding twenty years ago? But since our government privatized Sonel, since the Americans took over with the complicity of crooked Cameroonian administrators, the word “load shedding” has become one of the most used words here on our territory…
Basically, load shedding is a scheduled cutoff in electricity service, which takes place at specific times and locations. And to make things even more “intelligent”, we are now talking about “rationing”. The people who are responsible for supplying electricity distribute it to us sparingly, and since November 2023, power cuts have become systematic on a daily basis!
Our lights go out early in the morning, and it usually comes back towards the end of the afternoon. Sometimes the power is cut off at the very beginning of the evening, and it will come back on almost until the end of the next morning…
It has become systematic! Every day, in all sectors of all districts of all cities in the Republic of Cameroon, there is at least one or two power cuts. People are already walking around with their cell phones and chargers like they’re crazy because electricity has become an excessively perishable commodity. And I’m not even talking about the numerous collateral damages, such as the damage to fresh food and provisions that you were clumsy enough to want to keep in your refrigerator…
A continent of overbilling
Did you know that for many weeks now, prepaid meters have no longer worked? Eh ? Did you know that?
After only three years of operation, the electricity company fell out with the supplier of this software application, which was supposed to charge its users for the exact amount of electricity they had consumed. And yet we are in a fiasco…
Now, prepaid meters have become a scam. You top up your money to get light, and nothing works! Or you put in an amount of five thousand CFA francs for example, and after half an hour you are told that your package is already over! Worse, because of these numerous bugs, many households find themselves spending a day, two days, or three weeks in the dark, without any explanation/compensation from the parent company. And if you ever want to connect directly to an electrical pole since no one can bear to live continuously in the dark, well the agents of this company will come and police you, they will unplug you and they will brutalize you , in short, they will leave you in the dark and you will even risk further merciless legal proceedings…
Eneo’s prepaid meters were supposed to solve billing problems, but they no longer work. Source: investiaucameroun.com /CC-BY
A continent of heat
As for the heat then, it’s serious! Especially here in Douala. Especially with global warming. Especially during this period which goes from December to May, where it is incredibly difficult to have a single drop of rain, and where the outside temperature can easily reach 40, 45 or even 50 degrees in the shade…
As for the heat, it’s extremely serious! Especially since not everyone here can afford a domestic air conditioner, because it is still relatively expensive. Especially since not everyone here can get a generator, firstly because it is expensive, and secondly because they will have to use diesel when fuel has become incredibly more expensive.
A vicious circle, therefore. The heat will kill us at night because we regularly sleep without electricity, therefore without a fan. People try to sleep with the windows open to get some oxygen, and in this case welcome mosquitoes! Sexuality has even decreased considerably in couples’ lives, since how is it possible to make love with a woman who sweats like an elephant, and then, how is it possible to make love to a man who is dripping? the sweat on his forehead and on his chest as if he had become a hippopotamus?
A continent of unproductivity
And finally, unproductivity. Do the people who run us—or at least those who run Eneo—even realize the economic impact of such “hatred”? Because how will it be possible to create wealth without electricity, without internet and without any communication? How will it be possible to telework if your phone is completely discharged, or if your computer is not plugged into a power source? How is it possible to go to your office if you already know in advance that there will be no electricity for practically the entire day? How is it possible for an electrical technician, a mechanic or even a beautician to see their equipment burn out one after the other, because of the overvoltages and surges which are regularly generated by the back and forth of our energy current?
And then, finally, how is it possible to regain morale in such a discouraging environment, how is it possible to create wealth, to work normally to participate in the national economy of your own country, when you do not have not even one of the most basic professional ingredients?
Apart from load shedding, there are regular outages on the electricity network. Source: businessfinanceint.com /CC-BY
Cameroon, a totally black “continent”!
So the people who look at us from the outside, they friendly call us the “continent”. And yet we continually live in darkness. Because in truth, electricity has become an unimaginably rare commodity in the country of Pierre La Paix Ndamè…
Cameroon, a continent of antiquity! We live in the 21st century, but yet we have remained stuck in Roman antiquity, or more improperly in the age of carved stone or prehistory.
A continent of frustration! Cameroonians are very angry in view of this situation, and the government did well to threaten Eneo in order to try to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.
Cameroon has become a completely obscure continent, both in mentalities and also in terms of energy.
Because we live in the dark, we eat in the dark and we also regularly sleep in the dark. The Cameroonian population has become so unreasonable that they even applaud when electricity becomes available for only a few hours. The most fundamental right to electrical energy has literally become a luxury in every locality of our country.
And yet when others look at us from the outside, we will cheerfully puff out our chests and remind them that we Cameroonians remain the “continent”…
Ecclesiastes DEUDJUII live in the dark!
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