Cameroonian opposition figure Anicet Ekane died in detention on Monday morning in Yaounde, the vice president of his party confirmed to AFP.
“Anicet Ekane died this morning in Yaounde, where he had been transferred after his arrest at the end of October in Douala,” Valentin Dongmo of the African Movement for the New Independence of Cameroon (Manidem) party said.
The 74-year-old’s exact cause of death has not yet been determined.
The left-wing, nationalist politician was taken into custody in Douala on October 24, a day before the release of presidential election results that returned 92-year-old Paula Biya to office for an eighth term.
Ekane was closely aligned with fellow opposition figure Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who challenged Biya’s 43-year hold on power in the October 12 election.
“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,” Dongmo said.
“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 added.
He noted that “just yesterday”, Ekane’s supporters had called for a “medical evacuation”.
Ekane and several other political figures were detained for publicly backing Bakary’s self-declared presidential victory before the official results were released.
Manidem described the detentions as “arbitrary”, alleging that they were intended to “intimidate” the Cameroonian public.
Born in Douala in 1951, Ekane joined the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) in 1973, later leaving to help establish Manidem in 1995.
In February 1990, he and other members of the Yondo Black group were arrested. He was convicted in a military court but received a pardon several months later.
Ekane led Manidem for years and stood as its presidential candidate in the 2004 and 2011 elections.
His death has prompted widespread reaction on social media.
What you should know
Anicet Ekane’s death highlights long-standing tensions surrounding political dissent in Cameroon, especially following another contested election cycle.
His detention, deteriorating health and the unanswered calls for medical intervention have intensified scrutiny of the government’s treatment of opposition voices.
