Census Figure Shocks Douala

By Joe Dinga Pefok| Tuesday 20 April 2010 | The Post|

Ethnic Diversity in Cameroon Published in 2005 by James Fearon & David Laitin - Stanford University.

The results of the 3rd Population and Housing Census that put Douala at barely 1.8 million people fell on the city like a bombshell. CPDM diehards like Françoise Foning, Mayor of Douala V, as well as other CPDM council authorities including the Government Delegate to the City Council and his deputies, the mayors Douala I, II, III, and V Urban Councils are all said to be in a state of shock. Equally shocked is the Mayor of the SDF-run Douala 1V (Bonaberi) Council.

Our sources say Douala City Council is challenging the census results claiming that the population of Yaounde is more than that of Douala. The local CPDM officials and mayors are, however, protesting in silence, probably for fear of being victimized by the party hierarchy in Yaounde. Many reporters moved around town on April 15 in a bid to get any of the CPDM mayors or the Government Delegate to react to the census results. But they variously avoided talking to the press, not even to CRTV Douala.

Estimated Figures

During and after the 2005 census, the then Government Delegate to Douala Urban Council, Edouard Etonde Ekoto, had in official documents estimated the population of Douala to be 3 million. Since last year, the present Government Delegate to the Douala City Council, Dr. Fritz Ntone Ntone, has also put the estimated population of Douala at 4 million. Meanwhile, the Mayor of Douala V, Françoise Foning, has since the 2007 Municipal elections, estimated the population of her municipality at 1.5 million.

The Mayor of Douala III, Oumarou Fadil, another thickly populated municipality, has in recent years estimated population of the municipality to be over 1.2 million. As for Bonaberi (Douala 1V), the council has since 2007 when the number of councilors was raised to 41, estimated the population of Bonaberi at over 500,000, while the CPDM-run Douala II Council (New Bell area), estimates its population to be over 800,000, and Douala I to have at least 700,000. Another embarrassment caused by the new census figures is that the councils have all been advancing the estimated population figures to their different foreign partners, including their twin-councils abroad.

Boycott Of Census

Local government officials, who are convinced that the population of Douala is far more than the figure indicated by the census results, are attributing the low figure to the fact that many people in the city boycotted the 2005 census. CRTV Douala in a report on April 15, quoted the Littoral Regional Delegate of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development, Ebongo Moukala, as saying that the population of Douala have themselves to blame for often being gullible to rumours and boycotting censuses ordered by government.

The Delegate noted that whenever the government announces an operation to collect statistics about the population or some information from the population, rumours will immediately break out to discourage people from collaborating. The Delegate recalled that the rumor which sparked off in Douala was that government wanted to identify economic operators to raise taxes. So some of them dodged the census.

Répartition Géographique de la Polulation du Cameroun 2010

* La Région	Population	Effectif %	Superficie	Valeur (km_)	Densité de population
Adamaoua	884 289	5,1	63 701	13,7	13,9
Centre	3 098 044	17,7	88 953	14,8	44,9
Est	771 755	4,4	109 002	23,4	7,1
Extrême-Nord	3 111 792	17,8	34 263	7,4	90,8
Littoral	2 510 283	14,4	20 248	4,3	124,0
Nord	1 687 859	9,7	66 000	14,2	25,5
Nord-Ouest	1 728 953	9,9	17 300	3,7	99,9
Ouest	1 720 047	9,9	13 892	3,0	123,8
Sud	6 34 855	3,6	47 191	10,1	13,4
Sud-Ouest	1 318 079	7,5	26 410	8,4	51,8
Cameroun	17 463 836	100,0	466 050*	100,0	37,5