INTRODUCTION
A. Background and Justification
Access to water has emerged as a central global governance challenge, particularly in regions experiencing climate stress, population growth, and weak institutional regulation.1 At the international level, water is increasingly recognized not only as a natural resource but also as a fundamental human necessity linked to development, peace, and social stability.2 Global frameworks such as the United Nations’ recognition of the human right to water and sanitation emphasize equitable access, sustainability, and participatory governance as essential components of effective water management.3
In Africa, water scarcity has become a significant driver of social tension and localized conflict, especially in arid and semi-arid regions.4 Rapid population growth, climate variability, and reliance on rain-fed livelihoods have intensified competition over limited water resources.5 Many African states operate within legally pluralistic systems where statutory water laws coexist with customary norms governing access and use.6 While customary systems often provide context specific and socially legitimate mechanisms for water allocation and dispute resolution, they are frequently marginalized within formal legal frameworks.7
Cameroon reflects these broader continental challenges. Although the country is relatively water-rich at the national level, access to water is unevenly distributed across regions.8 Northern Cameroon, comprising the Far North and North Regions, is particularly vulnerable due to recurrent droughts, seasonal rivers, and heavy dependence on groundwater sources such as boreholes and wells.9 In these regions, livelihoods are closely tied to water availability, with pastoralism, small scale farming, and domestic use competing for the same limited sources.10
Historically, communities in northern Cameroon have relied on customary governance systems to regulate access to water, particularly during dry seasons.11 These systems, administered by traditional authorities and community elders, establish rules for allocation, prioritize vulnerable users, and provide mechanisms for resolving disputes.12 However, increasing demographic pressure, environmental degradation, and state-led development interventions have placed significant strain on these customary arrangements.13 The persistence of water-related conflicts in northern Cameroon therefore raises critical questions about the adequacy of existing legal frameworks and the need to reconcile statutory regulation with customary governance practices.
B. Statement of the Problem
Water governance in Cameroon is primarily regulated by Law No. 98/005 of 14 April 1998, which establishes water as a national resource of common interest under the control and management of the State.14 The law adopts a centralized regulatory approach, granting public authorities the power to allocate water through permits and licenses while imposing obligations aimed at environmental protection and pollution control.15 In principle, this framework seeks to ensure equitable access, sustainability, and state oversight of water resources.
In practice, however, the 1998 Water Law operates largely in isolation from the social realities of rural Cameroon. The law does not expressly recognize customary water governance systems that continue to regulate access, allocation, and dispute resolution at the community level, particularly in the northern regions of the country.16 As a result, statutory water regulation often exists alongside, rather than in coordination with, customary norms that are socially legitimate and widely enforced within local communities.17
This normative disconnection has significant implications for conflict prevention and resolution. In northern Cameroon, where water scarcity is acute and livelihoods are highly dependent on seasonal and groundwater sources, statutory permits issued by state authorities may contradict established customary rules governing communal wells, rivers, and grazing corridors.18 Such contradictions frequently generate disputes between pastoralists and farmers, as well as between local communities and administrative authorities, especially during dry seasons when competition for water intensifies.19
The absence of a clear legal framework for integrating customary practices into statutory water governance has therefore weakened the effectiveness of the 1998 law as a tool for conflict management. Rather than serving as a unifying regulatory instrument, the law has, in some instances, exacerbated tensions by undermining local governance arrangements without providing accessible or effective alternatives.20 This situation highlights a fundamental legal problem: the failure of Cameroon’s water law to accommodate legal pluralism in water governance, particularly in conflict-prone and environmentally vulnerable regions.
C. Theoretical and Conceptual Framework and Methodology of the Study
This study is anchored in legal pluralism as its primary theoretical framework, reflecting the reality that multiple normative systems simultaneously govern access to water in Cameroon’s northern regions. Legal pluralism recognizes that law is not produced exclusively by the State but also emerges from socially embedded norms enforced by traditional authorities and community institutions.21 In northern Cameroon, where state administrative presence is limited and water scarcity is recurrent, customary rules governing wells, seasonal rivers, and grazing corridors continue to play a decisive role in regulating access and resolving disputes.22 These customary systems coexist with statutory water law, creating a plural legal environment in which overlapping and sometimes contradictory norms shape water governance outcomes.
Legal pluralism is particularly relevant to this study because Cameroon’s formal water regime, established under Law No. 98/005 of 14 April 1998, does not expressly recognize customary water governance systems.23 As a result, water access in the Far North and North Regions is often regulated in practice by traditional authorities, while legal authority formally resides with state institutions. This disconnect illustrates a central concern of legal pluralist scholarship: the divergence between state law and socially legitimate norms, especially in rural and resource dependent settings.24 The persistence of water-related conflicts in northern Cameroon demonstrates how this divergence undermines the capacity of statutory law to function as an effective mechanism for conflict prevention.
The study further adopts Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as a complementary conceptual framework. IWRM promotes coordinated and participatory management of water resources that integrates social, economic, and environmental considerations.25 A core principle of IWRM is stakeholder inclusion, particularly the participation of local communities whose livelihoods depend directly on water resources.26 In northern Cameroon, where climatic variability, drought, and demographic pressure intensify competition over water, customary governance systems have historically functioned as adaptive mechanisms aligned with IWRM principles of equity, sustainability, and local participation.27 The exclusion of these systems from formal water law therefore represents not only a legal gap but also a failure of integrated governance.
The interaction between legal pluralism and IWRM provides a framework for assessing the ongoing revision of the 1998 Water Law. Recent reform initiatives acknowledge that centralized regulation alone has proven inadequate in addressing water scarcity and conflict, particularly in the northern regions.28 The revision process, supported by national institutions and international partners, explicitly seeks to incorporate participatory governance, decentralization, and community engagement.29 This study uses the combined lenses of legal pluralism and IWRM to evaluate whether these reforms are capable of bridging the normative gap between statutory law and customary water practices.
Methodologically, the study employs a doctrinal and socio-legal approach tailored to the context of northern Cameroon. The doctrinal component analyzes Law No. 98/005 of 14 April 1998, related regulatory instruments, and proposed reform directions emerging from the revision process. 30Particular attention is paid to provisions on ownership, allocation, licensing, and institutional authority, and their implications for customary governance systems in water-scarce regions. The socio-legal component draws on empirical studies, policy reports, and conflict analyses relating specifically to northern Cameroon, including the Far North and North Regions.31 These sources provide insight into how water law operates in practice and how communities navigate conflicts arising from overlapping legal orders.
By integrating doctrinal analysis with socio-legal evidence, the study situates water law reform within the lived realities of northern Cameroon. This methodology enables a critical assessment of whether the ongoing revision of the 1998 Water Law can move beyond formal legal change to achieve substantive harmonization between statutory regulation and customary governance. Ultimately, the framework adopted in this study seeks to demonstrate how legal reform, when informed by pluralism and IWRM principles, can contribute to more legitimate, conflict-resilient water governance in environmentally vulnerable regions.32
LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL PRESCRIPTION UNDER CAMEROONIAN LAW
A. International and Regional Instruments
Cameroon’s water governance framework is shaped not only by domestic legislation but also by its commitments under international and regional legal and policy instruments. At the continental level, the African Union Water Vision 2025 provides a strategic framework for the sustainable and equitable use of water resources in Africa.33 The Vision emphasizes integrated water resources management, stakeholder participation, and the prevention of water-related conflicts, particularly in regions vulnerable to scarcity and climate variability.34
In addition, Cameroon is a party to several international instruments relevant to water governance, including conventions addressing environmental protection and the management of shared natural resources.35 Although Cameroon does not share major international river basins comparable to the Nile or Niger systems, regional cooperation norms on trans-boundary watercourses remain relevant, especially in the Lake Chad Basin, where water scarcity has significant social and security implications.36 These instruments collectively encourage states to adopt participatory, coordinated, and conflict-sensitive approaches to water management. However, their principles have not been fully translated into binding domestic rules governing local water access and dispute resolution.
B. National Legal Instruments
At the national level, Law No. 98/005 of 14 April 1998 Portant Régime de l’Eau constitutes the principal legal instrument regulating water resources in Cameroon.37 The law declares water a national resource of common interest and places its management under the authority of the State.38 It classifies water into surface water, groundwater, and mineral water, and establishes a system of authorization and permits for abstraction, use, and exploitation.39 The law also contains provisions on pollution control, protection of water sources, and sanctions for unlawful use.
Despite its broad regulatory scope, the 1998 Water Law adopts a predominantly centralized and technocratic approach to water governance. Decision-making authority is concentrated within state institutions, with limited reference to local communities or traditional authorities.40 Customary water management practices, which continue to regulate access and use in many rural areas, are neither formally recognized nor clearly integrated into the statutory framework.41 This legal silence has contributed to tensions between state-issued water rights and long-standing customary claims, particularly in northern Cameroon where water scarcity heightens competition among users.
C. Institutional Actors
The primary institutional actor responsible for water governance in Cameroon is the Ministry of Water and Energy (Ministère de l’Eau et de l’Énergie -MINEE).42 MINEE is tasked with policy formulation, regulation, and oversight of water resources, including the issuance of permits and coordination with other sectoral ministries. Other institutions, such as decentralized local authorities and environmental agencies, play supporting roles but operate largely within the framework established by central government.
In response to persistent governance challenges and growing pressure from climate change and social conflict, Cameroon has initiated a process to revise the 1998 Water Law. A technical revision committee has been established, bringing together representatives from government ministries, civil society organizations, academic experts, and international partners.43 Notably, the Global Water Partnership (GWP) Central Africa has been actively involved in supporting the reform process, with an emphasis on integrating IWRM principles and participatory governance mechanisms.44 While the revision process signals a shift toward more inclusive water governance, the extent to which it will formally recognize and incorporate customary water management systems remains a critical question.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
A. Limitations of the 1998 Water Law
Although Law No. 98/005 of 14 April 1998 establishes an extensive regulatory framework for water management in Cameroon, its effectiveness in addressing local water conflicts remains limited. A major shortcoming of the law lies in its failure to formally recognize customary water governance systems, which continue to regulate access and allocation in rural communities, particularly in northern Cameroon.45 By treating water governance exclusively as a matter of state administration, the law overlooks the social legitimacy and practical authority of customary institutions that manage water on a daily basis.46
A second limitation concerns weak enforcement capacity, especially in remote and semi-arid regions. Administrative mechanisms such as licensing, monitoring, and pollution control are difficult to implement where state institutions have limited physical presence and logistical resources.47 As a result, statutory rules often exist only on paper, while actual water access is governed by informal norms and negotiated arrangements.
Finally, the law’s centralized management model creates tension with local governance realities. Decision making authority is concentrated at the national level, leaving little room for community participation or decentralized management.48 This approach undermines local ownership and exacerbates conflict when state-issued permits contradict long established communal practices. In contexts of scarcity, such legal rigidity has proven ill-suited to resolving disputes or adapting to environmental stress.
B. Customary Practices in Northern Cameroon
In northern Cameroon, customary water governance remains central to everyday survival and social order. Access to water is typically regulated by traditional authorities, elders, and community assemblies, whose authority is grounded in history, social norms, and collective consent.49
Empirical studies from areas such as the Mayo-Tsanaga Division illustrate how communal wells and seasonal water sources are governed through locally agreed rules. Allocation often prioritizes vulnerable households and limits excessive use, reflecting principles of equity and reciprocity rather than formal entitlement.50 Disputes are commonly addressed through mediation and dialogue, with sanctions such as fines, public reprimand, or temporary exclusion from access. These sanctions are socially enforceable and widely respected, even in the absence of formal legal backing. However, the lack of statutory recognition of these customary systems creates significant friction. Conflicts frequently arise when statutory permits for boreholes or water abstraction are granted without regard to existing communal arrangements.51 In such cases, state law is perceived as illegitimate, while customary authorities lack the legal standing to assert their role, resulting in overlapping claims and prolonged disputes.
C. Ongoing Revision of the 1998 Water Law
The ongoing revision of the 1998 Water Law represents a critical opportunity to address structural weaknesses and reconcile statutory regulation with local governance realities. The reform process is driven by recognition that effective water governance requires decentralization, participation, and legal pluralism.52
Proposed reforms include: Formal recognition of community water committees, Clearer roles for local councils and Incorporation of customary dispute-resolution mechanisms into the statutory framework. Central to the reform agenda is the adoption of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) principles.53 By emphasizing sustainability, equitable access, and stakeholder participation, IWRM offers a normative bridge between state regulation and customary practice. If effectively implemented, the revised law could enhance legal legitimacy, improve compliance, and reduce water-related conflicts in vulnerable regions such as northern Cameroon. However, the success of the reform will depend on whether these principles are translated into enforceable legal provisions rather than remaining aspirational policy goals.
D. Pathway for Integration of Customary Practices into Statutory Law
To harmonize statutory water law with customary governance, the revised legal framework should adopt a stepwise integration pathway, combining legal recognition, participatory mechanisms, and operational enforcement:
Formal Recognition of Customary Authorities: The revised law should explicitly recognize traditional leaders, community elders, and local water committees as legally authorized actors in water governance, particularly for communal wells, rivers, and seasonal water points.54
Codification of Customary Rules: Local water allocation rules such as seasonal rotation, priority access for vulnerable households, and mediation processes should be incorporated into municipal regulations and referenced in statutory provisions. This allows customary practices to coexist with licensing procedures, providing legal certainty.55
Joint Enforcement and Monitoring: Customary authorities should work alongside municipal water offices to monitor usage, resolve disputes, and enforce compliance. This ensures that statutory law does not undermine local governance while providing a formal channel for redress in case of violations.56
Participatory Review Mechanisms: Annual consultations with local communities, NGOs, and government authorities should be mandated to review customary rules and reconcile them with statutory objectives, ensuring that the law evolves alongside environmental, social, and demographic changes.57 This pathway operationalizes legal pluralism and aligns statutory law with IWRM principles, creating a governance system that is both socially legitimate and legally enforceable.
FINDINGS
This study confirms that Law No. 98/005 of 14 April 1998 provides a foundational legal framework for water governance in Cameroon but is structurally ill-suited to rural and semi-arid contexts. While the law affirms state ownership and regulatory authority, it lacks flexibility to accommodate customary governance systems that remain central to local water allocation and conflict resolution.58
Customary water practices continue to be socially legitimate and effective, particularly during periods of scarcity, yet their informal status limits their authority when conflicts arise with statutory permits or commercial interests.59
The study further finds that conflicts consistently emerge at the intersection of statutory and customary systems. Disputes are most acute where administrative authorizations for boreholes, irrigation, or commercial use contradict established communal norms governing seasonal water allocation.60
Finally, the ongoing revision of the 1998 Water Law offers a viable pathway for addressing these challenges. Integrating customary governance structures into statutory provisions, supported by participatory mechanisms and IWRM principles, can enhance legitimacy, improve compliance, and strengthen conflict prevention.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Water scarcity and related conflicts in northern Cameroon expose the structural tensions inherent in governing natural resources within a legally plural society. Although Law No. 98/005 of 14 April 1998 establishes a comprehensive statutory framework that affirms state ownership and regulatory control over water resources, its predominantly centralized orientation has proven ill-suited to local governance realities. In practice, water access and allocation in northern Cameroon continue to be shaped by customary norms, communal institutions, and traditional authorities whose legitimacy derives from historical usage and social acceptance. The marginalization of these systems within formal legal processes has contributed to regulatory gaps, weakened enforcement, and recurring inter-community disputes, particularly between farmers, pastoralists, and local administrative authorities.
The analysis further demonstrates that customary water governance systems are not merely informal arrangements but constitute functional regulatory mechanisms capable of ensuring equity, sustainability, and conflict resolution at the community level. Through seasonal allocation rules, collective decision-making, and socially enforceable sanctions, customary institutions have long managed water scarcity in an ecologically fragile environment. However, the absence of formal legal recognition renders these systems vulnerable when statutory permits and administrative decisions override established local norms. This disconnect undermines legal certainty, erodes community trust in state institutions, and intensifies competition over increasingly scarce water resources.
The ongoing revision of the 1998 Water Law therefore represents a critical normative and institutional opportunity for Cameroon. Integrating principles of legal pluralism and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) into the revised framework would allow for a more inclusive and adaptive model of water governance. Such integration would not weaken state authority; rather, it would enhance regulatory effectiveness by grounding statutory regulation in local realities. In regions such as northern Cameroon, where environmental stress, population pressure, and livelihood dependence on water intersect, participatory and decentralized governance is essential for both sustainability and conflict prevention. This approach directly aligns with Cameroon Vision 2035, which emphasizes sustainable resource management, poverty reduction, and economic development through inclusive governance and community empowerment. By improving water governance, the country can advance the Vision’s strategic objectives of environmental sustainability, social equity, and resilient local economies.
In light of these findings, this study recommends several reforms. First, the revised Water Law should expressly recognize customary water governance structures, including community water committees and traditional authorities, as legitimate actors within the national framework. Second, water management authority should be meaningfully decentralized to local councils and municipalities, enabling decisions to reflect local ecological and social conditions. Third, sustained capacity-building initiatives should be developed for both statutory and customary actors, focusing on IWRM principles, legal compliance, and dispute resolution. Finally, statutory licensing and permitting regimes must be harmonized with existing customary water rights to reduce overlapping claims and prevent conflict. By embedding these measures within the revised legal framework, Cameroon can move toward a more legitimate, participatory, and conflict-resilient system of water governance, advancing the objectives of Vision 2035 by promoting sustainable development, poverty reduction, and social stability in its most water-stressed regions.
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Footnotes
1. United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, The United Nations World Water Development Report 2020: Water and Climate Change (2020).
2. See U.N. World Water Assessment Programme, The United Nations World Water Development Report: Water and Climate Change (2020).
3. G.A. Res. 64/292, The Human Right to Water and Sanitation (July 28, 2010).
4. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Water Security and Conflict in Africa (2016).
5. Food & Agric. Org. of the U.N. (FAO), Coping with Water Scarcity: An Action Framework for Agriculture and Food Security (2012).
6. Sally Engle Merry, Legal Pluralism, 22 Law & Soc’y Rev. 869 (1988).
7. Ben Cousins, Customary Law and Water Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa, 5 Afr. J. Legal Stud. 1 (2013).
8. UNEP GRID-Cameroon, Water Profile and Governance Overview (2021).
9. Yeluma M. Ntali, James G. Lyimo & Francis Dakyaga, Trends, Impacts, and Local Responses to Drought Stress in Diamare Division, Northern Cameroon, World Development Sustainability, vol. 2, art. 100040 (2023).
10. Yeluma M. Ntali, James G. Lyimo & Francis Dakyaga, Trends, Impacts, and Local Responses to Drought Stress in Diamare Division, Northern Cameroon, World Development Sustainability, vol. 2, art. 100040 (2023).
11. Global Water Partnership , Central Africa, Water Security and Livelihoods in Northern Cameroon (2019).
12. Y. M. Ntali, Local Responses to Drought and Water Scarcity in Northern Cameroon, Scientific African (2023).
13. Global Water Partnership , Central Africa, Cameroon Revises Its 1998 Water Law (2022).
14. Law No. 98/005 of Apr. 14, 1998 Portant Régime de l’Eau (Cameroon).
15. Id. arts. 4-9.
16. Yeluma M. Ntali, James G. Lyimo & Francis Dakyaga, Trends, Impacts, and Local Responses to Drought Stress in Diamare Division, Northern Cameroon, World Development Sustainability, vol. 2, art. 100040 (2023).
17. Sally Engle Merry, Legal Pluralism, 22 Law & Soc’y Rev. 869, 873–75 (1988).
18. Global Water Partnership , Central Africa, Water Security and Conflict in Northern Cameroon (2019).
19. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Preventing Conflict over Natural Resources in the Sahel (2018).
20. Global Water Partnership , Central Africa, Cameroon Revises Its 1998 Water Law (2022).
21. John Griffiths, What Is Legal Pluralism, 24 J. Legal Pluralism 1, 1-3 (1986).
22. Yeluma M. Ntali, James G. Lyimo & Francis Dakyaga, Trends, Impacts, and Local Responses to Drought Stress in Diamare Division, Northern Cameroon, World Development Sustainability, vol. 2, art. 100040 (2023).
23. Law No. 98/005 of Apr. 14, 1998 Portant Régime de l’Eau (Cameroon).
24. Sally Engle Merry, Legal Pluralism, 22 Law & Soc’y Rev. 869, 872–76 (1988).
25. Global Water Partnership, Integrated Water Resources Management 22 (2000).
26. United Nations Dev. Programme (UNDP), Water Governance for Sustainable Development (2015).
27. United Nations Env’t Programme (UNEP), Water Governance in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities 45-47 (2019).
28. Global Water Partnership , Central Africa, Water Security and Conflict in Northern Cameroon (2019).
29. Global Water Partnership , Central Africa, Cameroon Revises Its 1998 Water Law (2022).
30. Law No. 98/005 of Apr. 14, 1998 Portant Régime de l’Eau arts. 2, 4-9 (Cameroon).
31. Y. M. Ntali, Local Responses to Drought and Water Scarcity in Northern Cameroon, Scientific African (2023).
32. Brian Z. Tamanaha, Understanding Legal Pluralism: Past to Present, Local to Global, 30 Sydney L. Rev. 375, 381-84 (2008).
33. African Union, Africa Water Vision 2025: Equitable and Sustainable Use of Water for Socioeconomic Development (2000).
34. Id.
35. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Water Law and Sustainable Development (2018).
36. Lake Chad Basin Commission, Water Charter for the Lake Chad Basin (2012).
37. Law No. 98/005 of Apr. 14, 1998 Portant Régime de l’Eau (Cameroon).
38. Id. art. 2.
39. Id. arts. 4-9.
40. Id. arts. 15-21.
41. See Sally Engle Merry, Legal Pluralism, 22 Law & Soc’y Rev. 869, 873-75 (1988).
42. Décret No. 2012/501 of Nov. 7, 2012 Organizing the Ministry of Water and Energy (Cameroon).
43. Global Water Partnership , Central Africa, Cameroon Engages Stakeholders in the Revision of Its 1998 Water Law (2022).
44. Id.
45. United Nations General Assembly, The Human Right to Water and Sanitation, U.N. Doc. A/RES/64/292 (2010).
46. Y. M. Ntali, Local Responses to Drought and Water Scarcity in Northern Cameroon, Scientific African (2023).
47. Law No. 98/005 of Apr. 14, 1998 Portant Régime de l’Eau (Cameroon).
48. Sally Engle Merry, Legal Pluralism, 22 Law & Soc’y Rev. 869, 873-76 (1988).
49. Y. M. Ntali, Local Responses to Drought and Water Scarcity in Northern Cameroon, Scientific African (2023).
50. Id.
51. Id.
52. Id.
53. Id.
54. United Nations General Assembly, The Human Right to Water and Sanitation, U.N. Doc. A/RES/64/292 (2010).
55. Y. M. Ntali, Local Responses to Drought and Water Scarcity in Northern Cameroon, Scientific African (2023).
56. Law No. 98/005 of Apr. 14, 1998 Portant Régime de l’Eau (Cameroon).
57. Id
58. Sally Engle Merry, Legal Pluralism, 22 Law & Soc’y Rev. 869, 873-76 (1988).
59. Ben Cousins, Customary Law and Water Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa, 5 African Journal of Legal Studies 1 (2013).
60. Law No. 98/005 of Apr. 14, 1998 Portant Régime de l’Eau (Cameroon).