Introduction

Property rights are rights over land, territory, natural resources among others. In short, it is right over a resource area . As for decentralized territorial governance, it is a method of governance where specific powers are transferred to local authorities such as regions, communes and traditional chiefdoms. Are property rights recognized under the decentralized territorial governance in Cameroon? It should be clarified that even if property rights are sometimes recognized under the decentralized territorial governance (I), the fact remains that they are limited in certain cases (II).

I- The property rights recognized under the decentralized territorial governance 

Property rights are recognized in the procedure of the decentralized territorial governance in Cameroon. This derives from law n°96/06 of January 18th 1996 which revises the Constitution of June 2nd 1972, amended and completed by law n°2008/001 of April 14th 2008 (article 57, paragraph 3) and by law n°2019/024 of December 24th 2019 on the General Code of Territorial Authorities (article 307, paragraph 2), that the President of a Regional Council is an indigene of that Region. Thus, the autochthony, whose main corollary is the land, determines the quality of the regional Presidents in Cameroon. This is an indirect recognition of natives’ property rights according to the aforementioned texts. 

In the context of traditional chiefdoms, the chiefdom of a local village has already been recognized in Cameroon in 2021. This refers to the village ASSOK where His Majesty Martin ABILA was established as the traditional chief by the administrative authorities. This is also an indirect recognition of property rights (of indigenous people).Property rights are also recognized by the governorates of forestry and mining in Cameroon. Here, the right to participate in decision-making procedures contributes to the recognition of the property rights of local and native communities. They participate fully in the governance of these territories, even though this participation is still in the primitive stages. 

II- The identified deficiencies

The recognition of property rights is sometimes limited under the decentralized territorial governance in Cameroon. Firstly, the condition which the autochthony imposes for becoming President of a Regional Council contributes to the marginalisation of part of the population. The term “autochtone” used by the constituent and the legislator contributes to the marginalisation of the true indigenous peoples of Cameroon. In the decentralisation procedure, the rights of the true indigenous peoples (Baka, Bakola, Bagyéli, Bedzan and Bororos) are not well-respected therefore their property rights are not fully recognised. Moreover, only one indigenous village was recognised in Cameroon in 2021. What of the others? In this case, the property rights of the true indigenous peoples of Cameroon are not fully recognised under the governance of the territory. 

Conclusion

Finally, there is a connection between property rights and decentralized territorial governance. Even if this link is complimentary in Cameroon, the truth remains that in certain cases, property rights are not fully recognized in territorial governance operations. The acknowledgment of villages and traditional chiefdoms of Cameroon’s actual indigenous peoples (Baka, Bakola, Bagyéli, Bedzan, and Bororos), as well as their effective participation in governance operations, could allow for the filling of certain important gaps.

Traduit en Anglais par Valeria Atik