The injustice of informal tollgates in Cameroon was a bitter pill to swallow for judge Kees van Dijkhorst − and that is without considering the disaster of what was supposed to pass for roads.

We are veterans of dozens of roadblocks in Angola, the DRC, the Congo and Gabon, we reassured ourselves – what could possibly go wrong on Cameroon’s roads? Well, quite a bit …

We encounter the first roadblock 10 km after the Gabon-Cameroon border. It comprises policemen, customs officials and “crocodile jaws” − thick planks with long protruding nails. Lain across the road to stop traffic, it is extremely effective.

Our documents are examined leisurely, but there are no problems.

Just a kilometre further there are more crocodile jaws, and a dinkum toll official collecting 500 CFA franks (about R8) for using the road.

Then the blackmailers at Zamakoé – two men from the Prévention Routière (traffic control) – pull us over. The offence? When he pulled off the road just now, our friend Philippe failed to use his indicator. The fine? 74 000 franks (about R1 250).

One of them takes Philippe’s driver’s licence, stretches himself out on a bench under a lean-to and, extremely leisurely, starts writing out a so-called summons – on a standard writing pad, without carbon paper and without indicating a fine amount, court or any place of payment.

Over the next two hours there’s a heated row between him and Philippe, with the traffic controller repeatedly emphasising how much he just loves tourists and how his president encourages tourism.

Philippe points out to him that his colleague at the roadblock is waving through apparently unroadworthy vehicles. No response.

Eventually I have had enough of the farce and I ask the man where the court is, as I want to pay now. He mentions a place about 100 km back.

Impossible, as we have to get to the port city of Douala where we have to meet my son-in-law Thys and grandchild Nonna the next day.

When he eventually asks me what I am offering, we settle on 10 000 franks (about R167). Obviously, I don’t receive a receipt.

As an impotent goodbye, I threaten to report him (I demanded to know his name, rank and personnel number, as I wanted to report him for blackmail, but the information proved to be false.)

Yes, frequent roadblocks are exhausting and shorten your fuse, but little did we know worse was yet to come.