The Ndu Council has unveiled what it describes as a landmark record of Mayor Abdou Kanfon Borno’s development blueprint across the municipality with barely five months to the end of his first mandate.
Touted as the greatest achievement by a mayor since the establishment of the municipality in September 1993, following its creation a year earlier through Presidential Decree 92/187 of 01/09/1992, the first-ever mayor under the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party’s report card released last week shows major investments in roads, bridges, water supply, education, healthcare and council infrastructure across the municipality.
Road infrastructure
It is often said, ‘where a road passes, development follows’. As a former Divisional Delegate of Public Contracts, Mayor Abdou Borno certainly understands this saying well.
According to the report that the Ndu Council released on Friday, September 4, 2026, several communities across the municipality have benefited from improved access following the construction of roads, bridges and drainage since his ascension to the helm of the municipality.
The document, a copy of which NewsWatch received, shows that the municipality’s road situation has considerably improved over the past few years. Major roads have been tarred or concreted in parts of Ndu town, while others, including the Ndu-Mbarse-Mbipgo-Fuh and Ndu-Wowo-Ntumbaw, have been graded. These have increasingly come in handy, facilitating access to key areas in the municipality.
In the same light, the council’s report also disclosed that thanks to Mayor Abdou Borno’s leadership, it has constructed at least 15 bridges linking communities that were previously separated by difficult river crossings, alongside V-gutters in Ndu and Ntumbaw.
Water and energy
The municipality’s road infrastructure is only one of many other facilities improved upon. ‘Water is life.’ Mayor Abdou Borno understands this saying all too well, as he made the provision of potable water one of the priorities on the council’s development agenda. According to the report, water and energy infrastructure continue to feature prominently among priorities, and for good reason. While many localities across the country continue to suffer from water and energy shortages, the Ndu council has over the past years, ensured it eases the stress of its inhabitants.
The council reported that under Mayor Abdou Borno, water projects, including solar-powered schemes, have been implemented in communities such as Ntumbaw, Njirong, Tungang, Ngvu, Mankeng, Ndu town, Mbah, Talla, Mbiyeh and Wowo. Meanwhile, solar streetlights have been installed in Ndu town and some seven palaces of the municipality.
This capitalisation on renewable energy has not only reduced the town’s reliance on the national grid, but has also created a model for sustainable and self-sufficient energy.
Education and healthcare
A teacher by profession, Mayor Abdou Borno is not oblivious of the fact that education is the bedrock of community development and that a healthy population drives local economic stability and community resilience. His report card published by the Ndu Council, shows the construction of classrooms in several communities, including Sop, Ntumbaw, Njirong, Sehn, Kakar, Mbarse, Talla, Mbah and Fuh.
These developments are in alignment with the state’s broader mission of improving on the education sector as a counter measure to the ongoing unrest in the English-speaking regions of the country. With Ndu counted among the least implicated municipalities, its school-construction drive has further contributed to strides by municipal authorities to make it a haven for quality education.
This drive for better educational facilities is equally matched with a relentless quest for improved health care. During the current mayor’s mandate, the council has constructed four health centres in Sop, Ntumbaw, Mbokop and Mbongong, while medical equipment has been supplied to health facilities in several parts of the municipality. These, Mayor Abdou Borno’s report card shows, tie into Cameroon’s broader Health Sector Strategy, which is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 3.
Focus on traditional institutions
As a Wimbum notable, Ta Nformi Abdou Borno does not need to be educated on the importance of having befitting palaces for auxiliaries of the administration that traditional rulers are. So he also made the renovation of palaces and local administrative infrastructure one of his major development priorities.
According to the council report, several palaces have been renovated or rehabilitated across the Ndu municipality, while a new Ndu Council Office Complex has been constructed.
The Ntaba Market has also been built, with work ongoing on a new Ndu Council Touristic Hotel and the Ndu Main Market, which is expected to have 140 shops, the report says.
Agric sector
Heading a municipality that is mostly agrarian, and often described as the major breadbasket of the Donga Mantung Division, which is famous for growing tea, Mayor Abdou Borno understood well that agriculture is the mainstay of the population and also made the sector one of his development priorities.
Agriculture in Ndu plays a crucial role in the livelihood of the town. However, challenges like soil degradation and climate variability have over the past years, threatened agricultural productivity. Farmers often face issues such as insufficient field staff and lack of market access, which hinder their ability to produce more effectively.
As cataloged in the mandate report, under his tenure, the agricultural sector has benefited from repeated distributions of farm tools and inputs to farmers. These interventions, the report says, were intended to support agricultural production and livelihoods across the municipality.
Distinctions
The “groundbreaking achievements” of the first-ever CPDM Mayor of the Ndu municipality have not gone unnoticed. The report says Mayor Abdou Borno’s “mandate of great accomplishments” has attracted a plethora of distinctions for him and the council.
Among those cited in the report are the “2025 Clean City Competition,” where the Ndu Council emerged first in the North West Region and seventh nationally, winning a cash prize of FCFA 40 million. The report also cites the 11th position ranking the municipality obtained in the “2025 My Name Competition” and the “Cameroon’s Most Inclusive Council in 2025” win for its efforts towards people living with disabilities.
The report also notes that Ndu was the only of the 37 councils evaluated for the second phase of the performance-based government grants under the Local Governance and Resilient Communities Projects (PROLOG) for 2026 to cross the 70 percent threshold.
CPDM as party of dev’t
A former stronghold of the opposition, the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) seized the municipality from the Social Democratic Front (SDF) following a crushing defeat at the February 9, 2020 elections, and councillors then elected Abdou Borno as the first CPDM mayor of Ndu.
Elected Mayor of the gateway municipality into the Donga Mantung Division from the North West Regional Headquarters in February 2020 for a standard five-year mandate, Abdou like his peers nationwide, is still on seat following multiple extensions by the President of the Republic.
Worthy to note that President Paul Biya has extended the mandate of the current municipal councillors two times – the first on July 24, 2024, which extended the mandate by 15 months, pushing the expiration date from February 25, 2025, to May 31, 2026. Following constitutional amendments allowing him further powers over the electoral timetable, Biya signed a new decree on May 4, 2026, extending their term further from June 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027.
Supporters of the ruling party in Ndu have been bragging that the achievements recorded by the first-ever CPDM party mandate of the council is evidence that the CPDM is a party of development and is a fulfilment of the promises local party officials made to them during campaigns.
This report was first published in NewsWatch Newspaper No. 238 of Monday, September 7, 2026.
