Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
Report By Gov’t’s Commission Of Enquiry Claims ANICET EKANE’s Death On December 1, 2025 Was “Natural”. But The EKANE Family And MANIDEM Party Insist He Was Killed. A Senior Member Of MANIDEM, CLEMENT MOUAFFO, Warns “Those Who Killed EKANE”, Against Attending His Funeral. There Is Also A Big Controversy Surrounding The Official Reason For The Arrest Of EKANE.
Prominent opposition leader and National President of the MANIDEM Party, Anicet Georges Ekane, who was also a Co-leader leader of the political platform, Union for Change, that supported the candidature of FSNC leader and presidential candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary , former member of government, at the October 12, 2025 presidential election, was arrested in Douala on Friday, October 24, 2025. He was arrested together with the other Co-leader of Union for Change, Djeukam Tchameni, and whisked off to the nation’s capital, Yaounde, where they were detained at the headquarters of the National Gendarmerie (Secretariat of State for Defence), commonly known by the French acronym, SED.
Due to his poor health situation that reportedly degenerated following his arrest, the long and very rough journey to Yaounde, and his incarceration, Anicet Ekane was later moved to the Military Medical Centre of the National Gendarmerie in Yaounde, where he died on December 1, 2025, sparking wide allegations that he was killed, or that his death was not natural. Following the death, a restriction was placed on the corpse of Anicet Ekane by the authorities. The authorities ordered that the corpse of Anicet Ekane should be moved to the mortuary of the Yaounde Central Hospital, as the Government reportedly ordered for an investigation into the real causes, and the circumstances, of Ekane’s death.
Pressure Mounted For Release Of The
Corpse
But following the long delay to handover the corpse to the family and the MANIDEM Party for eventual burial, the Ekane family and the party as well started mounting pressure on the authorities to release the corpse of Anicet Ekane. On December 29, 2025 for example, the Ekane Family, through their legal counsels Barristers Hippolyte T.B. Meli and Simh Emmanuel, addressed a correspondence to the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie, Etoga Galax Yves, to demand that they be handed the corpse of their love one (Anicet Ekane) who died in gendarmerie custody. At the commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the death of one of the martyrs in the fight for Cameroon’s independence, Ernest Ouandie, that the MANIDEM Party organized in Douala on January 15, 2026, a senior member of the party, Clement Mauoffo, disclosed that the party had written to President Paul Biya, to ask for his intervention for the release of the corpse of the party’s leader, Anicet Ekane.
Restriction Finally Lifted On Late Anicet Ekane’s Corpse
Meanwhile, on Monday, February 23, 2026, Barristers Hippolyte T.B. Meli and Simh Emmanuel, lawyers of the family of the veteran opposition leader and National President of MANIDEM, Anicet Georges Ekane, who died in Gendarmerie Custody on December 1, 2025 in Yaounde, disclosed at a press briefing in Yaounde that the ‘Commissaire du Gouvenement” (Examining Magistrate) at the Yaounde Military Tribunal, on that day informed them that restriction had been lifted on the corpse of Anicet Ekane at the mortuary of the Yaounde Central Hospital. The lawyers said they had on behalf of the widow, EKANE nee SONGUE JEANNE EDWIGE and children, informed the Yaounde Central Hospital that from that February 23 henceforth, it was the Ekane’s widow, in charge of the mortuary fee.
Worthy of note that Barristers, Hippolyte T.B. Meli and Emmanuel Simh, were the lawyers of Anicet Ekane following his arrest and detention on October 24, 2025. The two senior lawyers were maintained by the Ekane family as their lawyers in the Anicet Ekane Affair, following his death in Gendarmerie custody on December 1, 2025.
Communiqué On The Report Of The Commission Of Enquiry
Meanwhile on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, the Ministry of Defence came out with a communiqué on the report of the Commission of Enquiry on “The Exact Circumstances and Real Causes” of the death of Anicet Georges Ekane, that occurred at the Military Medical Centre of the National Gendarmerie in Yaounde on December 1, 2025, when he was in Gendarmerie custody. The communiqué of the Ministry of Defence was signed by the Chief of Communication in the ministry, Navy Captain ATONFACK GUEMO CYRILLE SERGE (‘Capitaine de Vaisseau’).
In the communiqué, the Ministry of Defence said following the death of 74 year old Anicet Georges Ekane, which occurred on December 1, 2025 in Yaounde, and in order to elucidate on the real circumstances of the death, an investigation was opened in the General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie, at the same time as a medico–legal autopsy was prescribed. The communiqué said it came out of the administrative enquiry that the arrest of Anicet Ekane was linked to his consecutive or repeated implications in violent manifestations registered in Douala before and after the publication of results of the October 12, 2025 presidential election, and that his death occurred when there was a judicial investigation on a number of divers legal issues.
Gov’t’s Report On Autopsy (Post –Mortem Result)
As for the result of the medico –legal autopsy, the communiqué of the Ministry of Defence said it was produced by a team comprised of a Professor and two medical doctors (‘Un Professeur et deux Docteurs en Medicines’), that carried out the autopsy at the mortuary of the Yaounde Central Hospital, and that it was based on results of a complementary examination that was carried out in Switzerland. The communiqué said the result of the autopsy was handed over to the Examining Magistrate at the Yaounde Military Tribunal in Yaounde on February 23, 2026. The communiqué said the conclusion of the report of the autopsy was that Anicet Ekane’s death was natural. That is, he died a natural death. (“L’edit raport a conclu a une mort naturelle’).
Only One Small Protest Took Place In Douala Before Anicet Ekane’s Arrest
Worthy of note that Anicet Ekane, who as aforementioned was the Co –leader of the political platform, Union for Change, that supported the candidature of the FSNC leader and presidential candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, former member of government, was arrested together with the Co –leader of Union for Change, Djeukam Tchameni, on October 24, 2025. Before then, only one public manifestation linked to the October 12 presidential election, had been registered in Douala. To be precise, that manifestation occurred on October 14, that is, two days after the presidential election, at the Sub-Communal office of Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, at Douala V. It happened that a certain individual visited the office of ELECAM, and saw the personnel cleaning up the ballot boxes that were used at the October 12 election, and also saw voting papers or used ballots from those boxes, dumped behind the ELECAM Office, and raised false alarm that ELECAM personnel were stuffing ballot boxes. It is not clear if he did that by ignorance or he was just being mischievous or of bad faith. . But a large crowd quickly gathered and tension mounted.
But suffice to say there was no violence on any ELECAM personnel besides the invectives, threats or intimidation by the crowd. Unfortunately, another mischievous fellow, also quickly filmed smoke that was rising from fire at two garbage heaps not far from the ELECAM office, and posted the video on the social media, with a false claim that the ELECAM Office and some other buildings had been set on fire. That was of course fake news. Fortunately enough, the local media unlike is commonly seen, stood up to debunk the allegation. Neither the ELECAM Office nor any other structure was in fact set on fire. Anti –riot security officers that were rapidly deployed to the ELECAM Office at Douala V, when the authorities got words that a crowd was manifesting out there, made a number of arrests.
The First Real Violent Protest Demonstration In Douala
It should be noted that the first serious public protest demonstration that turned violent, that took place in Douala after the October 12, 2025 presidential election, occurred on Sunday, October 26, that is a day before the Constitutional Council proclaimed the official result of the presidential election. That was when Issa Tchiroma Bakary called on Cameroonians to go out and defend their victory. Some parts of Douala were rocked by violence and acts of vandalism. In fact the Governor of the Littoral Region, Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, came out with a communiqué in the evening of that fateful October 26, in which he disclosed that three persons died in the violent manifestation, and that a total of 105 persons, all youths, were arrested. Acts of violence, looting, and vandalism including arson, still continued in the next few days in some parts of Douala.
However what The Mentor News wants to point out here is that Anicet Georges Ekane was arrested on Friday, October 24, 2025 in Douala by the Gendarmerie, and whisked off to Yaounde for detention. This was before the real violent protest demonstration shook Douala on October 26. By then, Ekane had already been arrested and taken to Yaounde. His arrest thus also came before the proclamation of the official result of the presidential election on October 27, 2025.
Controversy Over The Official Reason For Anicet Ekane’s Arrest
So it is difficult to understand, when the report of the administrative enquiry as contained in the February 24 press release that was issued by the Ministry of Defence, claims that Anicet Ekane’s arrest and detention was allegedly linked to his continuous or repeated implications in violent manifestations, that were registered in Douala before and after the publication of the result of the October 12, 2025 presidential election. (“De cette enquete administrative, il resort d’une part que l’interpellation et la garde a vue du nomme Ekane Anicet Georges, etait consecutives a son implication dans les manifestations violentes enregistrees a Douala avant and après la publication des resultats de l’election presidentielle du October 12 Octobre 2025”). How for example, can somebody who was arrested before the proclamation of the official results of the October 12, 2025 presidential election on Monday, October 27, 2025, be said to have been arrested because he was implicated in the violent manifestations that took place after the proclamation of the official results of the presidential election!
Corpse Of Late MANIDEM Leader Flown To Douala On March 3
Meanwhile, the corpse of the late Prominent Opposition Leader and National President of MANIDEM, Anicet Georges Ekane, was flown to Douala from Yaounde where he died, on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. A number of prominent opposition figures like Prof Maurice Kamto, Barrister Akere Muna, Hon Albert Dzongang among others, were at the mortuary of the Yaounde Central Hospital earlier on that day, to bid farewell to the fallen hero in the fight for democracy in Cameroon.
In Douala, a large crowd of mourners and sympathizers turned out at both the Douala International Airport to receive Anicet Ekane’s corpse, as well as at the mortuary of the Laquintinie Hospital (Littoral Regional Hospital) where the corpse was deposited. Among the personalities that showed up was the Governor of the Littoral Region, Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, who was accompanied by the Wouri SDO, and his Etat Major. The Ekane Family and the MANIDEM Party are said to be jointly working on a funeral programme.
Those Who Killed Ekane, Not To Be Welcomed
Meanwhile, last week, a senior member of MANIDEM, Clement Mauoffo (member of MANIDEM’s Political Bureau), declared over Equinoxe TV that those who allegedly killed Anicet Ekane, will not be accepted, or allowed, to attend his funeral. He thus warned all those who know that they had a hand in the death of Anicet Ekane one way or the other, to stay away from his funeral. This is another clear rejection of the report by the Government’s commission of enquiry, that Anicet Ekane’s death was natural.
