Segregation in the Provision of Public Sanitation to Indigenes and Europeans in British Southern Cameroons: A Historical Investigation

Abstract

This paper analyses the segregative attitude of the British in the provision of public sanitation as a preventive healthcare initiative in colonial Southern Cameroons. The paper demonstrates that, contrary to the popularly held view that sanitation was only intended to serve the local population, it was actually anchored on the wider colonial agenda meant to preserve the health of Europeans and also to ensure a healthy labour force which was constantly being threatened by the high incidence of non-infectious diseases. Sanitary Inspectors engaged by British Colonial Administration and Native Authorities (NAs) educated the population on sanitary practices, implemented rules and regulations pertaining to cleanliness, visited markets, homes with the purpose of inspecting food and toilets and guarding against other diseases whose prevalence had a negative impact on the attainment of colonial interests. This effort resulted in the prevention of some diseases, thus, enhancing the health
of the population and facilitated the economic exploitation of the territory. Primary and secondary sources from the National Archives Buea and libraries around Cameroon respectively were consulted. In its analysis, the paper combines both the qualitative and quantitative approaches within a thematic mold guided by strict historical chronology. Deriving from these sources, the paper contends that the dynamics and travails of public sanitation hinged on encounters, negotiations and hybridization of the ideas and interests of Europeans and Southern Cameroonians. This study reveals a picture of an illintentioned, poorly conceived and managed public sanitation structure that was installed and operated in the territory.