Marafa Opens Can of Worms on Assassination of His Secretary in 8th Letter

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 

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