Cameroon opposition firebrand dies in custody at 74

Cameroonian left-wing opposition figure Anicet Ekane died in custody five weeks after his arrest, his lawyer and party announced.

Ekan, 74, is one of the leaders of the opposition coalition that backed Issa Tchiroma Bakary in October’s presidential election.

Tchiroma Bakary said he was the legitimate winner of the poll, which officially saw 92-year-old current president Paul Biya win. Tchiroma Bakary has since fled to The Gambia.

Ekane’s official cause of death has not yet been released. His party accuses authorities of denying him access to medication, a charge the government denies.

Ekane’s health deteriorated over the weekend and he died at a military medical facility on Monday morning, according to a spokesman for Ekane’s Manidem party.

“We don’t have any clarification… His wife was called and when she found herself there she had just seen her husband’s body,” he said.

The family then took the body to the morgue, he added.

Defense Ministry spokesman Captain Cyril Serge Atonfak said the Manidem leader died due to illness, but did not provide any further details.

“The deceased suffered from various chronic diseases and had been detained at the National Gendarmerie Military Medical Center,” he said, adding that the politician had been receiving careful care from doctors since his arrest on October 24.

Authorities said they have launched an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding Ecahn’s death.

Ecahn is charged with hostility to the state, sedition and calling for rebellion, according to his lawyer.

“He was never brought before a judge and has not been charged with any misdemeanor,” his lawyer Hippolyte Meli said in a statement on social media, describing the detention of the Manidem leader as “illegal.”

In recent weeks, there have been rumors that opposition figures have died, and Ecahn’s party members demand to see him “dead or alive”.

His death sent shock waves across the country, with supporters gathering at the party headquarters in Douala to mourn. Others took to venting their anger online.

Manidem said his office premises had been surrounded by security forces.

Ekan initially supported another dynamic opposition figure, Maurice Kamto, in the presidential election. But Kamto suffered lengthy detention after dissent in the last election in 2018, and this time his candidacy was rejected by electoral body Elecam and the Constitutional Council on the grounds that the party had backed more than one candidate.

Ekane and other politicians then joined forces with other politicians to create the Alliance for Change coalition and named former government spokesman Chiroma Bakari as their candidate.

Cameroonian security forces killed at least 48 people during protests against President Biya’s re-election, according to the United Nations.

These included several people who were shot near Tchiroma Bakary’s residence in Garoua city. He later claimed that snipers had been stationed at the house opposite his and were “shooting at people at point blank range”.

Cameroon’s government denies any wrongdoing.

Additional reporting by Natasha Buti