101 Hectares, Two Communities: Inside Buea’s Ewonda Land Dispute

A long-running land dispute over 101 hectares in Buea involving Ewonda village and Lower Ewonda has led to arrests, contested land titles, and calls for higher-level administrative intervention.

A complex land dispute involving approximately 101 hectares on the lower flanks of Mount Cameroon in Buea continues to fuel tensions between Ewonda village and the recently rehabilitated community of Lower Ewonda. The ongoing controversy has spanned five years, drawing in local youth, traditional leaders, and administrative authorities amid conflicting historical claims.

Gendarme officers recently raided Ewonda and arrested several youths following allegations of trespass and destruction of infrastructure on the contested land. While Lower Ewonda maintains that the arrests were justified due to defiance of an existing injunction order and property damage documented on video, Ewonda youth leader Efome Ferdinand denied that his community members orchestrated any destruction.

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The administrative landscape of the dispute has shifted repeatedly following actions by the Ministry of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure. Minister Henri Eyebe Ayissi initially nullified several land titles held by Lower Ewonda citing administrative errors and fraud, but subsequently reinstated nine suspended land certificates through later correspondence. Lower Ewonda representatives assert their claims are backed by colonial-era documentation, including German-planted boundary blocks, whereas neighboring villages and a 2021 report from the Buea Subdivisional Conference of Chiefs have questioned the historical existence of Lower Ewonda as a distinct entity.

Community members from both sides have expressed deep concern over the escalating socioeconomic impact and the potential for violence if the matter remains unresolved. Chief Paul Molua Tonga of Lower Ewonda has advocated for dialogue as the primary path to peace, while representatives from Ewonda have called for arbitration by the President of the Republic to secure their ancestral heritage and alleviate the hardships faced by displaced farmers.

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