This is the town of the seven hills as generally known. It is also called ‘Ongola’ in the ewondo language. Yaoundé is the political capital of Cameroon and also the headquarters of the Centre province. It was made political capital since 1921 and continued occupying this position even after independence. The presidential palace is located at Etoudi quarters at the top of a small hill. This is one of the best and most guarded presidencies in Africa. It is the residence of the president of the republic.
This town has one of the most hospitable climates in Cameroon. It contains all the ministries in the country, higher institutions of education, a big football stadium (Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium), a sports complex under construction, several attractive parks, supermarkets, banks, hotels, a golf course, several embassies, military headquarters and several other services not found anywhere else in the republic.
It has a good intra urban transport network and an international airport. It is a favorable travel destination for tourists who have the opportunity of visiting several handicraft centers, historical sites, monuments, nightclubs, bars and supermarkets. Some great sites in Yaounde are the Reunification monument, the statues of Dr.Eugene Jamot and Charles Atangana, the Former Presidency now the National Meseum, several small lakes around the town, the French cultural centre and the Handicraft centre at Monte Anne Rouge. The town has intra urban buses and taxis that take people to any destination within the town at very cheap rates.
It has a good security record ever since the creation of a mobile and rapid intervention police unit. This though, has not been very successful in quarters with ghettoes like Briquetterie, Madagascar and Bonamoussadi that have a poor an unplanned road network. Crime wave in such quarters still maintains its records.
Yaoundé has a contrasting relief, with some areas very high and others very low and prone to floods during the peak of the rainy season. Contrasts can also be noticed in the nature of habitats and quarters. There are good and well planned quarters, with very sophisticated buildings in places like: Maison Balnche, Bastos and Kuwait city; and very distorted, dirty, promiscuous and decayed quarters like the ghettoes earlier mentioned. Such contrasts are a reality in the day to day life of urban dwellers in Yaoundé and Cameroon at large. Very poor people live side by side rich people; this is common on streets like Avenue Kennedy where street children and mad people idly stray along the streets waiting to beg from people in luxurious Mecedes Benz vehicles, Jaguars amongst others.
Yaoundé presently has a powerful City Council that is highly engaged in ameliorating living standards through the construction of roads, rehabilitation of structures, creation of parks and expropriation of illegally occupied lands. Expropriations especially in 2008 have enabled the government to recover a lot of land needed for other useful projects yet has thrown many people into the streets and made life difficult for rural migrants in town who mostly live in such areas.
This town is in constant expansion into suburban areas that were initially occupied by virgin forests.
See photos on Yaounde through these links | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
