In recent weeks, a new and chilling chapter has opened in Cameroon’s ongoing reckoning with power, corruption, and the abuse of state machinery. A key witness at the Yaoundé military tribunal has publicly accused Martin Stéphane Savom, a once-prominent local politician and close associate of Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, of having not only a role in the brutal assassination of journalist Martinez Zogo, but also in the death of Mgr Jean-Marie Benoît Balla a case long officially declared a suicide. These allegations raise serious questions: How far does the reach of power truly go? And to what extent have state authorities been implicated in silencing dissent and faith through violence?
Savom, formerly mayor of Bibey and widely known as a political fixer, is no stranger to controversy. His ties with Ngoh Ngoh, the powerful Secretary-General of the Presidency are well documented. But until now, his name largely appeared in political gossip or corruption scandals. The new testimony from Alain Ekassi, a witness for the prosecution, paints a gravely different picture. Ekassi claims that Savom was not just an accessory but a central actor in two very different but equally explosive killings.
First, there is Zogo, the fearless radio journalist whose disappearance in January 2023 shocked the nation. He was abducted, tortured, and killed; the details of his death are so harrowing that human rights groups called it an act of state terror. The subsequent investigation unfolded slowly, but eventually implicated high-level intelligence officers, including members of the DGRE (Cameroon’s external intelligence service), and even a media tycoon. Savom was arrested and formally charged for complicity in arrest, torture, and assassination.
But Ekassi goes further. According to his testimony, Savom was also complicit in the death of Mgr Benoît Balla, the Bishop of Bafia whose body was found in the Sanaga River in 2017. Ekassi says he heard from mutual acquaintances that Savom, along with a colonel from the DSP, allegedly disposed of Balla’s body in the river. If true, this is not just political violence, it’s targeted elimination of a religious figure who was deeply respected and whose death triggered suspicions of foul play from the very beginning.
What makes this story even more disturbing is the alleged connection to Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, one of the most powerful men in the Cameroonian government. Savom is widely believed to have been part of his inner circle, a man of hand, according to some sources. If the accusations are accurate, they suggest that these killings were not carried out by rogue individuals, but perhaps orchestrated or at least tolerated by people very close to the center of power.
Many Cameroonians will remember how Balla’s death was officially treated as a suicide. That narrative has always felt uncomfortable to some, Balla was not just a religious leader, but a voice many believed was inconvenient to certain interests. Now, with these fresh allegations, it seems more urgent than ever to ask: Did the state really clear its name, or was the investigation quietly buried?
The Zogo investigation, too, is not without its shadows. According to some confidential reports, there are allegations that the inquiry was manipulated at the highest levels. One expert’s leaked note claims that Ngoh Ngoh himself, along with other top officials, influenced key parts of the investigation to divert blame or suppress important leads. The very fact that Savom is being called “intimate” with Ngoh Ngoh makes that claim more plausible than many might want to admit.
If the tribunal confirms Ekassi’s testimony, the implications are historic. This would not just be a case of a few bad actors abusing power, but evidence that state apparatus or parts of it might have been weaponized to silence both critical media voices and spiritual leadership. For a country already struggling with trust in its institutions, this would deepen wounds and threaten the very foundation of accountability.
The families of Zogo and Balla, and indeed all Cameroonians, deserve nothing less than a full, independent, and transparent investigation, one that is not beholden to political patronage or fear. To do otherwise would be to let impunity win yet again.
Cameroon stands at a crossroads: either it confronts the darkness at the heart of its power structure, or it risks letting a culture of violence and cover-up define its future.
