BY NDIMUH B. SHANCHO
Moved by the deteriorating health situation of former Prime Minister and Chief of Bakingili, Ephraim Inoni, South West chiefs have continued to lobby President Paul Biya for the evacuation of the former PM for proper medical attention abroad. A trip to the presidency has been slated for Friday October 25, 2019 to continue soliciting the President in this regard, The SUN has learnt.
This is contrary to social media reports which went viral on Tuesday, October 22, that the President had ordered for the evacuation of the former Star Building occupant. The President of the South West Chief’s Conference, H.M. Chief MafanyNjie when contacted by The SUN expressed total surprise at the social media report. However, he held that the service which Chief Ephraim Inoni has rendered the state of Cameroon warrants that he too be evacuated by the government for medical attention, like others.
salvage deteriorating health
The Bakingili traditional ruler and former Prime Minister, currently serving a twenty years jail term for his involvement in the ‘Albatross plane affair’, reportedly sustained severe injuries after he was brutalised during the July 22, 2019 prison riot at Kondengui inY aounde that further deteriorated his health situation. The former PM’s plight got to a level where he was admitted at the Yaounde General Hospital, where his counterparts from the South West visited and pledged to lobby for his evacuation abroad for treatment.
At press time, The SUN could not independently confirm information circulating on social media about a presidential order for Chief Inoni’s evacuation.
Chief Ephraim Inoni was arrested, April 16, 2012, for using his position as the Deputy General cum Board Chair of the Standard Chartered Sank to embezzle public funds, about FCFA 287 million and FCFA 1.4 billion, in a case related to the leasing of aircraft by the defunct Cameroon Airlines between 2002 and 2003, in collaboration with Atangana Mebara who was then the Secretary General at the Presidency and the Board Chair of the National Hydrocarbons Corporation, SNH. On October 2, 2013, Chief Ephraim Inoni was sentenced to 20 years in prison for violating procurement rules and the overpayment of what should have been paid to the hirer.