Jailed since 2012, the former Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, has made a desperate plea for medical intervention as he battles deteriorating eyesight. He went further to say President Biya was plunging Cameroon into “barbarism and savagery.”
In an interview with Jeune Afrique on Tuesday, Marafa, now 71, revealed that he has been diagnosed with glaucoma, a condition that has already caused blindness in his right eye.
The former regime baron, who was handed a 25-year prison term on charges of “intellectual complicity in embezzlement of public money,” urged for a medical evacuation abroad.
He said doctors have recommended “a last chance operation” to save him from total blindness.
“I am losing my sight,” he told Jeune Afrique on Tuesday, April 24.
“All the specialists recommend ‘a last chance operation’ to prevent me from becoming totally blind.”
Despite previous appeals to President Paul Biya for a medical evacuation, Marafa’s requests have been ignored, exacerbating his plight.
He asserted that his continued detention and the denial of medical care amount to torture, adding that his requests for medical evacuation and placement under house arrest for assistance with daily activities have gone unanswered.
“My continued detention and the torture that I suffer, in particular through the refusal of care, because it is indeed torture in legal terms, can therefore only have a political character,” he said.
“In my requests for medical evacuation, I requested placement under house arrest, which would allow me to receive help with daily activities. As I indicated, all this remained unanswered.”
He was implicated in the embezzlement of FCFA 24 billion during the aborted purchase of a presidential plane in 2004 in what is now called the ‘Albatross’ case.
Marafa, alongside jailed former Prime Minister Inoni Ephraim and others, was part of a delegation that bought a plane for President Biya.
The jet, known as Albatross, developed complications during its inaugural flight, and it was discovered to be an old airplane with a new coat of paint.
The president and his wife, Chantal, were on board the plane when it was forced to make an emergency landing.
Marafa has continued to oppose his sentence, claiming innocence of all the charges levied against him.
In his recent outing, the former Minister of Territorial Administration emphasised the political nature of his detention and the deteriorating state of governance in Cameroon.
“My incarceration regime, already extremely strict, is likely to be tightened after the publication of this interview,” he stated. “But the situation in my country, Cameroon, is too serious for me to remain silent.”
He expressed concern about the worsening political and social situation in Cameroon, accusing the regime of plunging the country into “barbarity and savagery.”
Marafa stressed that it was his duty to speak out, despite the potential consequences for himself and his fellow prisoners.
