SUSTENANCE AND DYNAMICS OF INFORMAL TRANSPORTATION IN ANGLOPHONE CAMEROON, 1961 TO 2016

In most African cities, while there are state policies regulating the operation of motor transport activities, informal practices are usually visible creating some sought of anarchy. Using the case of Anglophone Cameroon, the territory roughly representing the former West Cameroon Federal State and the contemporary Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon, the study examines the extent by which informal transport actors created a sustainable operational niche. By profiling the informal transport practices in the towns of Bamenda, Buea and Limbe in Anglophone Cameroon, the paper asserts that, although considered informal and chaotic by the State because of the non-conformity to statutory regulations, the clandestine transport sector was not altogether a chaotic setup. It had a certain mode of organization with well-established protocols and disciplinary measures that gave it a semblance of order. The article is informed by evidence gathered from primary and secondary sources analyzed following a qualitative historical design.