Wouri SDO’s Allegation That Planned Protest Demonstration On December 16 Is In Defense Of The Cause Of Homosexuals

Whatever the case, the population of Douala has to be very careful these days, and remember what happened in 2019

As mentioned in the preceding article, Wouri SDO, Mvogo Sylvac Marie, ii his press release dated Saturday, December 14, 2024, alleged that the protest, “Lundi en Noir” (“Monday in Black”), is a planned manifestation by  defenders of the cause of Homosexuals and other sympathizers of the activities, of REDHAC, a human rights organization.  This of course is not true, though it is not only the SDO saying it. On the social media, some pro –regime persons that have been blasting REDHAC and its Board Chair, Alice Nkom, have been blowing out her attachment to the defense of homosexuals, as a way to generate a negative public view of her.  It should also be noted that contrary to what the Wouri SDO says, REDHAC is not an organization that defense the so called rights of homosexuals. It is Barrister Alice Nkom who does that and not REDHAC, and that is why she has been struggling for long to legalize an association for the defense of homosexuals in Cameroon.

It should be noted that in the last 25 years or so, the octogenarian Alice Nkom, as a lawyer has been known more for her strong and persistent defense of homosexuals, and she is known to have been working in collaboration with the European Union on this controversial issue, which is of course a very lucrative business for her as a lawyer. Barrister Nkom is known to have for many years been struggling to get the administration to legalize an association known as, “Association de Defense des Homosexuels au Cameroun”, that it, the Association for the Defense of Homosexuals in Cameroon. Though many Cameroonians are showing sympathy for Madam Alice Nkom with her ongoing problem with the administration over the suspension of REDHAC, she is often criticized by many on social media, because of her persistent campaign or defense for  the  so called rights of homosexuals. And the allegation that the SDO of Wouri has been trying to play on, by trying to link the planned protest on December 16 to homosexuality, is apparently in a bid to reduce the increasing public sympathy that she is gaining in this conflict with the administration.

Homosexuality Is Prohibited In Cameroon

It should be noted that the Board Chair of REDHAC, Madam Alice Nkom, misfired in her December 10, 2024 correspondence to the Wouri SDO, Mvogo Sylvac Marie. This was when she criticized the civil administrator that she sent somebody to his office on November 25, 2024, with a dossier for the legalization of an association in conformity with Article 7 (3) of Law No. 90 – 53 of December 1990 on the freedom of association, and the SDO sent the person away.

The SDO in response said first of all, files or dossiers requesting the legalization of associations are deposited at the mail service, and not in his office or secretariat. As regards the content of the file that Barrister Nkom sent, the SDO disclosed that it was for  the legalization of an  association known as “Association de Defense des Homosexuels au Cameroun” (Association for  the Defense of Homosexuals in Cameroon).  He recalled that he was only transferred to Douala as Wouri SDO early this year, whereas records show that Madam Alice Nkom first deposited a file at the Wouri Senior Divisional Office requesting for legalization of her association for the defense of homosexuals in Cameroon, way back in 2001. Mvogo noted that it was 23 years before his coming to Douala as Wouri SDO. He said  after his coming to Douala, Madam Alice Nkom prepared a new file for the same old  issue,  that is to seek the legalization  of an association for the defense of homosexuals, and thought she could get it through. Mvogo said Alice Nkom was wasting her time, and explained that the rejection of the file of her association by the SDO’s office is due to the fact that up till date, homosexuality remains prohibited in Cameroon.

Population Should Remember What Happened In 2019 and 2020

Meanwhile, the fact that the Wouri SDO has not only banned the planned protest demonstration, but has also ordered the systematic search of vehicles and motorcycles, gives the impression that the administration considers the protest dubbed “Monday in Black”, as an insurrection. People in Douala, and those that have to visit Douala, from today to Tuesday, December 17, have to very careful. They should make sure they are in possession of valid identification documents, and also avoid hanging around any gathering. The authorities behaved the same way in 2019, when MRC called for a peaceful protest march in January and September 2020. The event of September was qualified as a planned insurrection by the authorities.

What happened earlier was what nobody could have imagined. In early 2019, the National President of MRC, Prof Maurice Kamto, was arrested together with his  ally, Albert Dzongang, at the latter’s residence in Douala, after a peaceful protest march,, over alleged stolen victory,  and whisked off to Yaounde. Many MRC bigwigs a were also arrested in Yaounde and Douala.. Kamto, Dzongang, Paul Eric Kingue, Celestin Djamen, and others spent nine months at Kondengui Prison.

At the protest march in September 2020, which the regime tagged it as insurrection, many arrests were made. They faced trials at military tribunals, since it was over alleged insurrection. Some of those arrested spent three years in jail, and quite a number of them are still in prison till date.

But as the MRC has repeatedly said, among those arrested and sent to prison were some persons that were not even the party’s militants or sympathizers, and were not part of the protest march. They were just curious watchers of the peaceful march. Some were persons that were merely passers –by, when it coincidentally happed that the Forces of Law and order launched raid at those areas during the protest march, and swept everybody away.  These persons who were just watching by the roadside and those who were just passing, when the raids occurred, also ended up too in prison, as the Forces of Law and Order insisted that they were MRC militants, and that they were also part of protest march.

By Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)

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