Activities in offices and business centres were rather timid yesterday after the celebration of the birth of Christ last weekend.

Christmas has come and gone and the hustling and bustling that accompanied its preparations before and during the feast have given way to another atmosphere. The unusual jam in business centres and streets has tremendously reduced while the hectic feast rendered some civil servants almost unproductive in their respective workplaces yesterday Monday 27.

After the scramble and jam in markets, supermarkets and other business hubs, it was a rather timid atmosphere in many of shops yesterday. Driving was smooth yesterday from the Mfoundi to the Mokolo markets where business was at its peak, with a crowd of buyers and sellers. Only few chicken hawkers could be spotted in the Mfoundi Market unlike last week while at the Mokolo market, vendors especially in food items, could be seen idling behind their stands, wooing customers who were hard to come by. On the other side of the market, clients in fairly-used clothes were on hand to buy while traffic resumed with vehicles and passers-by battling for passage.

Brisk business has now given way to a rather cold atmosphere with very few buyers. Mireille Kamchop, vendor in the Mokolo market opened her shop late as compared to previous days. And even with that, she had not even sold an item at 11 a.m. In some supermarkets, long queues had given way to almost deserted counters. The effervescence in almost all shops, supermarkets and petty stands was already replaced by a quiet ambience. Toy sellers were present but buyers were absent while Christmas trees were no where to be found. Though some people seized the opportunity of cheaper prices after the feast to shop, the turnout was not yet felt.

In offices, the scenario was almost the same. C. Biloa, secretary in one of the ministries, declared that by 8.30 a.m, she was already in the office as usual. By 10 am when CT made a stop in her office, one of her colleagues was just stepping in. With all the fatigue on her, she finally settled but C. Biloa was already attending to people, treating files and making calls for the smooth functioning of the ministry. Even by 10.30 a.m, two of her colleagues had not yet arrived for work and she expressed doubt as to whether they will answer present. In many corridors in most ministries, the usual noise, hustling and bustling was absent, while some doors remained locked with no sign of activity.

Even though there were little signs of serious work in some ministries, people who had their files pending had come as early as possible for follow-up. In front of the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, was the usual crowd as many crosschecked their names on the various recruitment lists posted outside. At the Ministry of Basic Education also noted for the influx of people, the setting was almost the same. Traffic had greatly reduced in town while some neighbourhoods were deserted with a lot of dust in the air.