Cameroon’s Tenancy Conundrum: Navigating the Intricacies of Lease Agreements

More than half of Cameroon’s population live in urban areas with majority being tenants or lessees. Lease agreements often present a wide range of problems causing squabbles between lessees and lessors or tenants and landlords, especially due to the fact that there is no uniform law regulating this domain in Cameroon. Therefore, resort can only be made to OHADA Uniform Act on General Commercial Law that deals with commercial lease. Most often, lease or tenancy agreements are concluded verbally without formal writing. Also, many people enter into such agreements without clear definition of the rights and obligations of the parties. The legal considerations put in place by the law to regulate lease agreements are imperative especially to traders who take out premises on rent for commercial/business purposes. Traders enjoy their business profitability where premises are rented in an environment which is conducive for commercial purposes. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the nature of a lease or tenancy agreement, while establishing the rights and obligations that exists in such agreement, and the grounds for termination. While making use of an in-depth content analysis and critical evaluation of primary and secondary data, this paper argues that the rights of the lessee or tenant who is the weaker party, goes beyond that of possession as imbedded in the rights and obligations of the parties. The paper culminates with some recommendations for better protection of the rights and obligations of both the lessee and lessor or tenant and landlord.