There is a recurrent theft of private cars from parkings around public buildings in Yaounde.

May 14, 2014 birthday for George A, Basic Education Ministry staff turned out to be the worst when he was about to have a special lunch with his wife. On that fateful day, when George stepped out of his office, he was taken aback when he noticed that his car was not parked where he had kept it.

In a confused state, he turned to his wife and asked, “why did you remove the car from where I had parked it?” His wife’s reply revealed that she was not responsible for displacing the car. At this point, George and his wife began searching for the car in vain until date.

Just like George, the cars of several civil servants in the country have been stolen from different car parks around ministerial buildings while the workers are in their offices.  Patience A, another staff at the Ministry of Basic Education was seen in a state of shock some days back when she was about to go home after work, only to realise that her car was nowhere to be found around the parking lot surrounding the Ministries in charge of Basic, Secondary and Public Services and Administrative Reforms.

A staff at the Ministry of Basic Education, Marie Noelle P. says the situation is not only disturbing but rampant to the extent that when some of her colleagues leave home for work, they wonder if they will return with their cars.

Security guards around ministerial buildings say although they have never caught somebody stealing a car, the crew of guys involved in the phenomenon seems to be well organised as no trace is even seen until when the owner of a stolen car begins to complain.  Sources from the police corps reveal that they have received several complaints from people whose cars have been stolen either around ministerial or hospital buildings, and at times in front of a church during service.

While noting that a policeman cannot be placed around public buildings except during official ceremonies, a police source says people should take individual measures to secure their cars. As such, people are being advised not only to equip their cars with an alarm system but to always manually verify that the car is effectively blocked each time they close it with the alarm key.

According to police sources, thieves are always around car parks and they have a certain code which they use to decode the alarm system of a car when it is been blocked. With the Video Surveillance System in the town of Yaounde and Douala, people are called to immediately alert the police when their cars are stolen for the video system will facilitate the tracking down of the car.