Mr.
President,
Madame Christiane Soppo who
has been my private secretary for over 20 years was assassinated in her house
on January 26, 2014 bearing horrific marks of torture on her body. I have never
wanted to comment immediately; to avoid increasing the emotions and to let
investigators do their job. But two months after, I am obliged to conclude that
the state has maintained a stony silence. I am not writing to you to tell you
the pain and the anger that I have and which many other Cameroonians too share,
including you I suppose. My thoughts for Madame Soppo and her family will
remain private.
On the other hand, what I
publicly owe Madame Soppo is to put the state before its responsibility to
elucidate this political assassination and to retaliate by all means. I insist
that it was a political assassination because Madame Soppo was particularly
targeted for the simple reason that she remained faithful to me even after my
imprisonment. Even those who s a respected interlocutor to, also share these
views. A good number of them your ministers, members of your cabinet and your
security, parliamentarians, senators, political party officials as well as
foreign diplomats and members of giant industrial companies. All those who saw
her carry out her services to the nation by me with perfect integrity know that
her only fault can only be her proximity to me and the visits she continuously
paid me in prison.
It is because she had a
quiet conscience that she decided to ignore the threats that were made to her
weeks; threats which proves of the premeditated and well planned act. I repeat,
political assassination because no one should be deceived about it. After the
manipulation of the court to render condemnation without evidence, Madame Soppo
is just a complementary step, the emergence of parallel and extra-judicial
justice in the hands of a group of individuals who function with respect to
their interests and who at the same time pronounce secret death sentences which
are executed by men of sack and rope.
Our compatriots are asking
whether the only way to benefit from state protection against imprisonment and
arbitrary executions is to have a foreign passport. I repeat, political
assassination because the death of this simple Cameroonians who did not only
have nothing to be approached of but who incarnates the best qualities of our
people’ efforts in studies and work, attachment to the children’s education,
presents one further step towards the savagery of our society Achile Mbembe has
been talking about.
Under-liners and mercenaries
are plunging our country in future distrust and fear as well as pushing the
state to stay silent on these deaths and to stir from fighting the system that
brought about it.
Mr. President of the
republic, its our obligation; it is the obligation of the state to immediately
take the following measures. To put all useful resources in place to search and
punish the authors of this barbaric act, the sponsors as well as the underlings
and to expose their motives, ensure the protection of my closed ones and
particularly my lawyers and take all the necessary steps so that the judicial
procedure; all of an injustice against me should continue to be executed on a platform
of law and regular justice.
Innocent ones should not
fall on the edge of the sword. These gestures are strong signals not only owed
to the remembrance of an exemplary and typical Cameroonian, they are
indispensable to preventing the nation from being plunged into a general fear
of everyone against everyone and above all, against a state that is more and
more taken hostage by private interest peddlers and destroyers
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa
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