By Tata Mbunwe
The government proceeded with an autopsy on the body of deceased opposition leader Anicet Ekane on December 3, in the absence of his family members and lawyers, who had firmly opposed the procedure.
Sources told Radio France Internationale (RFI) the autopsy was conducted on the orders of the government commissioner at the Yaounde military court, but the late politician’s family boycotted it.
Ekane’s family had strongly opposed a rushed autopsy conducted solely by the government, demanding instead the presence of independent forensic pathologists.
His sister had reiterated the family’s opposition to an autopsy performed only by government-appointed doctors in a video that went viral.
Anicet Ekane’s death in state detention on December 1 continues to stir emotions across the country, as the family accuses the government of abandoning him to his death.
He died at a Gendarmerie military hospital in Yaoundé from respiratory-related causes, after his family had condemned the government’s refusal to allow him access to an oxygen concentrator.
His oldest son, Muna Ekane, said his father was deliberately deprived of healthcare and abandoned by authorities to die.
The government, through the Ministry of Defence, regretted Ekane’s death and promised to open an investigation.
