On Monday, December 21, 2020, Barrister David Mafani Namange, Mayor of Buea, inaugurated the city’s first-ever traffic lights in a bid to stem haphazard road use. Following the removal of the median curbs along the main boulevard prior to President Paul Biya's February 2014 Buea visit, several accidents occasioning death have been reported on the stretch.

Cameroon-Info.Net understands that the traffic problem is increasing day by day in big cities. There are many main reasons for this. Distorted urbanization, the increase in population, and the increase in the number of vehicles are the three biggest factors causing traffic problems in cities.

With the formation of crooked urbanization, the roads are not wide enough and not linear enough to provide traffic flow quickly. As a result, we see blocked roads, big queues, and angry drivers.

With the increasing population and the improvement of financial possibilities, everyone can now buy a car, albeit at low prices. Being a growing and relatively peaceful city, Buea has attracted among others Internally Displaced Persons fleeing the intense conflict in parts of the North West and South West Regions. The number of vehicles going to traffic is increasing every day and the existing roads are not enough and the traffic problem is growing.

When Mayor Namange commissioned the traffic lights at Checkpoint Buea on Monday, he did not know that it was rather going to pose another traffic problem to the city. Some of the traffic light poles can be spotted at road junctions at Malingo, Great Soppo, and Mile 17.

The traffic lights have come with soaring traffic jams in the city. Buea-based journalist, Andrew Nsoseka says far from being that the population is new to the facility, the programming needs to be reviewed.

“The problem is not the traffic light per se. It is the very terrible programming,” says Nsoseka. “The system is programmed in very terrible ways. The lights run red when the road is empty, and cars are forced to just stand for long periods whereas there are no pedestrians who want to cross or something of that sort.”

Some Buea locals have since taken to social media to share photos of the growing traffic jam being witnessed after the installation of the traffic lights. In response, municipal officials have suppressed some of the traffic lights, apparently in view of reprogramming them.

Another opinion holds that Buea is in need of many more roads beyond the Paul Biya Boulevard that runs from Mile 17 to Buea Town.  Renovated roads, new roads, and many more investments are expected in order to improve the traffic situation in the city of legendary hospitality.