Seventeen years after the start of a land dispute in the heart of Douala, the Minister of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure has pronounced the withdrawal of the final concession granted to the Société Hôtelière DJEUGA Palace.
A railway heritage at the heart of the dispute. By decree No. 99/057 of March 19, 1999, the former REGIFERCAM was dissolved, its assets being distributed between the liquidation and the railway activity concessionaire, CAMRAIL, in accordance with the joint order of December 7, 2005.
The plot concerned, subject of land title No. 318/WA, is located in downtown Douala, on a right-of-way historically integrated into the railway domain, as defined by an order of April 6, 1926, from the High Commissioner of the French Republic in Cameroon. The site formerly housed warehouses built by the former REGIFERCAM.
A boundary report drawn up on December 27, 2006, by the Wouri land registry services established a total area of 1 hectare 07 ares 04 centiares.
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According to the information note published on February 24, 2026, a first administration of State Property allegedly granted the site as a provisional concession to DJEUGA Palace, after having classified it as a dependency of the 2nd category national domain. A classification reserved for land free of any occupation.
The creditors of the former REGIFERCAM denounce a “deceitful” qualification, considering that the land could not be considered free of any human occupation, given the existing railway infrastructure.
This classification allegedly allowed the provisional allocation of an area of 5,314 m² for an amount of 26,570,000 FCFA by order of April 25, 2008. The former warehouses were reportedly destroyed in June 2008.
From the AFCON to the final concession
In the context of preparations for continental competitions, notably the 2016 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, a second administration granted a final concession to the hotel company by order of June 18, 2016.
The area was then reportedly increased to 5,972.3 m², for a cost of 29,861,000 FCFA.
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However, a mission from the working group set up within the Prime Minister’s services, responsible for proposing solutions for the closure of the liquidation of the former REGIFERCAM, noted a significant discrepancy.
According to its conclusions, the Société Hôtelière DJEUGA Palace allegedly occupied not 5,972.3 m², but 1 hectare 07 ares 04 centiares, i.e., the entire area initially identified, for an estimated market value of 10 billion FCFA.
By order No. 00539/Y.7/MINDCAF/SG/D6/5200/S210 of February 13, 2026, the Minister of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure pronounced the withdrawal of the final concession order.
The text recalls that while the State supports and protects private initiative, the latter must imperatively comply with the laws and regulations in force. It also specifies that fraud, when established, does not give rise to any compensation.
The Cabinet Conseil ATOU S.A., acting alongside the creditors of the former REGIFERCAM, welcomed this decision, described as a “rigorous application of the law,” thus putting an end to a dispute that had been open for seventeen years.
