Left-wing Cameroonian opposition leader Anicet Ekane has died in state custody five weeks after his arrest, his lawyers and party have confirmed.
Ekane, 74, was one of the key figures in an opposition coalition that backed Issa Tchiroma Bakary in October’s presidential election. Tchiroma Bakary continues to insist he won the poll, which the electoral commission declared in favour of 92-year-old incumbent President Paul Biya. Tchiroma Bakary has since fled to The Gambia.
The authorities have not publicly confirmed the exact cause of Ekane’s death. His party, the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (Manidem), alleges that he was denied access to essential medication while in detention an accusation the government has rejected.
A Manidem spokesman said Ekane died on Monday morning at a military medical facility after his condition deteriorated over the weekend.
“We have no clarification… His wife was called to come and when she arrived, she was simply shown her husband’s body,” the spokesman said, adding that the family later transferred the body to a mortuary.
In a statement, defence ministry spokesman Capt Cyrille Serge Atonfack said Ekane had died from illness, noting that he suffered from “various chronic pathologies”. He said the opposition leader had been admitted to the Military Medical Centre of the National Gendarmerie and was “properly cared for” by medical staff since his arrest on 24 October.
Ekane’s legal team said he was being investigated on accusations of hostility against the state, incitement to revolt and calls for insurrection.
“He was never brought before a judge or formally charged with any offence,” lawyer Hippolyte Meli wrote on social media, describing the Manidem leader’s detention as “illegal”.
