Marafa Hamidou Yaya, a Cameroonian sentenced to 25 years in prison for “intellectual complicity in embezzlement of public funds,” breaks his silence. The former Secretary-General of the Presidency, detained since 2012, granted an interview to Jeune Afrique on Tuesday.
Highly critical of the regime, the former collaborator of Paul Biya, now 71 years old, issues a plea for help concerning his health. Several personalities, including former French President François Hollande, had previously called for his release due to health reasons.
Suffering from glaucoma, Marafa Hamidou Yaya has already lost sight in his right eye. He now fears for his left eye. “I am losing my sight,” he explains in Jeune Afrique, “all specialists recommend ‘a last chance operation’ to prevent me from becoming blind.” An operation that can only be performed abroad.
However, his requests for medical evacuation authorization addressed to President Biya, he claims, have remained unanswered. To cope with this handicap, the former Secretary-General of the Presidency wished to be placed under house arrest, but his requests have also fallen on deaf ears.
Sentenced in 2012 for “intellectual complicity in embezzlement of public funds,” Marafa Hamidou Yaya does not understand why he is still behind bars, while, he assures, the other five individuals convicted in this case have all been released. “My continued detention,” he argues, “and the torture I endure, particularly through the denial of medical care, because it is indeed torture in legal terms, can only have a political nature,” he judges.
The septuagenarian believes that his case is not isolated. “Under this regime, the recourse to torture has become systemic,” affirms Marafa Hamidou Yaya, who also expresses “great concern about Cameroon’s progressive decline.” His idea to reconcile the country? The establishment of a kind of Truth, Reconciliation, and Refoundation Commission to expose, like in South Africa after apartheid, state crimes and scandals. While he still believes he can help his country, the former collaborator of Paul Biya fears that his incarceration regime may be hardened after the publication of this interview.