By Chi Atanga Nixon, Program Assistant/ Extractive Industries Program / RELUFA
The mineral fields of Kambélé, in the Kadey Division of the East Region of Cameroon, have long been a source of competing interests. The immense mineral wealth attracted foreign interests, especially from Asia, as well as local artisanal miners from across the region and other areas of Cameroon.
For some time now, Kambele has been a site of repeated tragedies, environmental degradation, and deep social tensions between the local communities and foreign investors. RELUFA staff have been on the field on these mining sites listening to testimonies of artisanal miners and community leaders on the various challenges they face. The recent government decision to suspend semi-mechanized exploitation and reaffirm the rights of artisanal miners on the designated site marks a significant shift from the entrenched neglect of artisanal miners and affected communities.
For over a decade, semi-mechanized operators, many of them from Asia and other countries around the world, operated in Kambele with weak oversight from administrative authorities. They dug deep into the soil, often leaving behind large open pits that became death traps for the local communities and their livestock, especially during the rainy seasons (Cameroon Tribune, June 2025). Residents of Kambelle recount stories of young men buried alive in collapsing shafts, families displaced from fertile lands, and water sources polluted with mercury and silt.
Despite the promise of jobs and improvement of livelihood, community members in Kambelle remained largely excluded from the benefits of mineral exploitation on their land. One miner testified to a team from RELUFA in 2024 that they are the ones dying in the holes, yet they don’t see the benefits from mineral exploitation. Such resentments by community members and artisanal miners in Kambelle fueled growing demands for change.
In July 2025, the Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, conveyed a directive from the President of the Republic asking the Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development to reserve exclusively for artisanal miners, the gold site in Kambele, conceded to JAM’s Avenir Sarl (Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon. Directive Suspending Semi-Mechanized Exploitation at Kambélé. July 2025). In August 2025, the Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (MINMIDT) executed the above instructions through a Decision n. 000203/A/MINMIDT/SG/DM/DAG of 12 August 2025 Radio/Press Communique declaring exclusive artisanal mining activities within the perimeter by local community members of the locality.
This decision at first sight may serve multiple purposes, from protecting lives after successive accidents and also an attempt to calm tensions between local community members and mining operators due to the difficult cohabitation. This shows that the voices of local community members, civil society organizations should not be ignored, as they have consistently raised these concerns.
For years, Réseau de Lutte contre la Faim (RELUFA)has sounded the alarm over unrehabilitated mining sites. In 2024, a study was released that highlighted not only the environmental risks but also the lack of accountability as exploited mining sites were systematically abandoned and not rehabilitated for the benefit of local communities (RELUFA. Study Report on the Impact of Unrehabilitated Mining Sites in the East Region of Cameroon. Yaoundé: RELUFA Publications, 2024).
Dialogue sessions were organized with communities, local monitors to document abuses were trained, and government institutions were engaged on the urgent need to operationalize a mining rehabilitation fund. Kambélé was often cited in these exchanges as a glaring case where negligence translated directly into loss of life and livelihood.
The recent decisions, therefore, are not isolated. They align with years of sustained advocacy that amplified the demands of local communities that called on the state to act.
In all, the decisions on the Kambelle mine site remind us that governance in the extractive sector cannot just remain reactive. Three key lessons stand out:
Community voices matter: Excluding local communities and artisanal miners from local decision-making processes fuels conflicts. Any sustainable policy must start with inclusion.
Rehabilitation of mine sites is not optional: The scars of unrehabilitated sites, dangerous pits, and degraded farmland are permanent reminders of institutional neglect. Operationalizing the rehabilitation fund is no longer an option but a necessity.
Community and Civil society voices are important: RELUFA’s persistent advocacy proves that evidence-based campaigning, grounded in community realities, can be a source of credible information for decision makers.
Kambélé is more than a gold site. It is a mirror of Cameroon’s wider mining governance challenges. The decisions of July and August 2025 mark an important step forward. But the real challenge lies in ensuring that this policy shift is not just reactive, but transformative, bringing dignity, safety, and real development to Kambélé and other mining communities in Cameroon.
One truth is constant and clear: protecting people should matter as much as protecting gold or diamonds.
