The commercial motorbike union launched a national sensitisation campaign on Wednesday.

Commercial motorbike riders in the country have about three weeks to get all their papers in order to operate freely. The President of the National Union of Commercial Motorbike Riders, SYNAMOTAC, Chief Ntonefor K. Nguimo Rene made the announcement last Wednesday May 16, 2012 in the conference hall of the Chamber of Commerce in Yaounde.

Speaking at the launch of a national campaign to sensitise stakeholders on the matter, the President reminded members of his union that security forces will begin checking their compliance next June 12. He said the deadline was agreed last March 12 in Douala following lengthy negotiations with the then Senior Divisional Officer for Wouri, Bernard Okalia Bilai and the Government Delegate to the Douala City Council, Fritz Ntone Ntone. He explained that the Douala agreement which was later endorsed by government to apply all over the country had seen the number of papers for operating a commercial motorbike in the country reduced from 18 to eight.

Qualifying the outcome as a major breakthrough, Chief Ntonefor noted that it was sequel to four years of efforts by the union to make conditions for practising the trade more flexible for riders.

While calling on members to continue to be law-abiding and courteous to customers, he blamed some bike owners who are mainly policemen, gendarmes and soldiers for tarnishing the image of the trade by refusing to pay their papers. In the same vein, he condemned judges who are in the habit of releasing suspected bike thieves.

The union leader said most of the 108,000 members in the country were responsible people who never create trouble. These are retrenched or retired State employees and well educated people who for want of white collar jobs had joined the trade. The only bad eggs in the lot, he said, were riders of bikes belonging to security men and soldiers. He appealed to authorities in Yaounde to release more than 1,500 bikes that have been impounded, if those claiming to be owners presented genuine particulars.

The national sensitisation campaign that already started in some regions is to continue right down to sub-divisional and Council levels. Last Wednesday’s meeting was attended by all ten regional union presidents. Commercial motorbike business in the country was recognised by a decree of the Prime Minister on December 31, 2008.