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| Marafa: Let me die in Jail, not in prison |
Cameroon's famous ‘Political Prisoner’, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, now wants to be taken out of the Yaoundé Hospital Teaching Centre ( CHU).
According to Marafa’s Lawyer, Professor Ndiva
Kofele Kale, “...Marafa has decided to return to his cramped, humid and
windowless cell in the so-called secondary prison in the National Secretariat
for Defense (SED) because the doctors at CHU have not been able to diagnose his
ailment much less treat him.”
His lawyer, Ndiva Kofele-Kale, took time off from
grieving the loss of his nephew, to travel to Yaoundé to see his client last
week.
He told Cameroon Headlines that he found “the
famous patient exactly where he left him the week earlier. One major difference
was the increased number of armed gendarmes and other security details guarding
him, numbering close to 50.”
Marafa, according to his counsel,
questioned his continued stay at the hospital and worried about the possibility
of exposure to other diseases.
Marafa is quoted as saying that since President
Biya has elected to brush aside his lawyer's appeal to have him evacuated to
the American Hospital in Paris for expert diagnosis and specialist care, he
prefers to return to SED and leave his fate in the hands of the Almighty!
The
former minister’s fast deteriorating health condition is now becoming a real
cause for concern to the authorities especially following the death of another
minister, Catherine Abena, former Secretary of State for Secondary Education,
who died some months ago while in prison. Her death was not taken kindly to by
her kinsmen and women. If Marafa suffers a similar fate, apparently the
reactions would not only be widespread but could be more intense and a huge blow
to the country’s image.
A
source hinted that Marafa ‘s counsel had official lodged a request to move
Marafa abroad for proper treatment, but no response has been got.
