Green Development Advocates (Cameroon) | September 2025Dark side of SOCAPALM
From land illegalities to the suppression of local communities: The case of Apouh and its outskirts.
Legal analysis note
drafted by Marius Gautier MONGO NDJEM, Alain Fabrice MFOULOU BONNY.
Under the supervision of Aristide CHACGOM
The SOCAPALM-Edéa plantation was established amidst land and social problems. The history of this operation reveals both legal and material blatant anomalies. Unfortunately, the establishment of this agro-industry is based on these serious errors. These irregularities have had significant impacts on local communities, whose ancestral lands have been gradually seized in favour of the palm oil plantation. stifled by the proximity of this plantation, the local populations are demanding vital space for their survival. They organised and protested peacefully to express their grievances. However, they encountered the intransigence of the management team of the agro-industrial company and its administration. These two parties, however, proclaim the benevolence and legality of their actions and achievements while casting aspersions on the traditional leaders of the Apouh community. This legal analysis note presents the blatant illegalities underlying the land issue of the SOCAPALM Edéa. Particularly highlighting a range of evidence that showcase the extent of the injustice suffered by the local communities. The backdrop of the abuses suffered in these communities is marked among other things by questionable property deeds, concessions arbitrary granting in defiance of the law, factious occupations of community lands, and brutal and illegal repression of protests. Besides synthesising the origins and consequences of these persistent clashes only, this article also proposes possible de-escalation solutions.
Read the full report: https://www.gdacameroon.org/media/attachments/2025/10/07/legal-analysis-final.pdf
