Cameroonian opposition figure Anicet Ekane has died while in custody in Yaoundé, the vice president of his party confirmed. Ekane, 74, had been transferred to the capital following his arrest in Douala in late October.
Opposition leader dies in detention in Yaoundé
“Anicet Ekane was arrested in Douala and then transferred to Yaounde, where he was held at the State Defence Secretariat (SED). It was there that his health began to deteriorate,” according to Dongmo.
“We repeatedly alerted the authorities, including the military court administration, requesting that Anicet Ekane be transferred to a hospital with the appropriate facilities for better care, but our requests did not receive a favourable response,” he said.
Valentin Dongmo of the African Movement for the New Independence of Cameroon (Manidem) said Ekane’s health began to deteriorate after his transfer to the State Defence Secretariat (SED).
“Just yesterday, Ekane’s supporters called for a medical evacuation, but it was ignored,” Dongmo added.
Anicet Ekane’s political career and legacy
Ekane was arrested on October 24, a day before the official announcement of the presidential election results that returned 92-year-old Paul Biya to power for an eighth term.
He and other political leaders had publicly supported fellow opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary’s self-proclaimed victory.
The opposition party, Manidem, condemned the arrests as arbitrary measures designed to intimidate Cameroonians.
Ekane’s death has sparked widespread reactions on social media, with supporters expressing outrage at the circumstances surrounding his detention.
Born in Douala in 1951, Ekane began his political career with the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) in 1973. He later left to establish Manidem in 1995 and ran as its presidential candidate in 2004 and 2011.
He had also been previously arrested in 1990 as part of the Yondo Black group, convicted in a military trial, and later pardoned.
Throughout his career, Ekane was known as a left-wing nationalist committed to political reform.
His close collaboration with other opposition figures underscored his role as a key voice in Cameroon’s multiparty politics.
The circumstances surrounding Ekane’s death are yet to be fully clarified, leaving human rights groups and political observers calling for an investigation into the treatment of detained opposition members in Cameroon.