BY CELINE NGUM
A man suspected to be a homosexual, has been arrested in Mbalmayo, Center Region of Cameroon, for seducing other men. About 25 years old, fair in complexion and medium in height, with curly hair, the man, according to state radio, CRTV, looked well kempt.
The man whose name CRTV quoted as Amougou, is said to have boarded a taxi dressed like a woman. On the way, he began to seduce the taxi driver and eventually made advances to him. The taxi driver who became interested scheduled an appointment to meet ‘her’ the following day. The next day, the taxi driver discovered that he was indeed a man. The taxi driver drove him directly to the police station where he was taken into custody. The alleged homosexual, Amougou was presented to the public prosecutor and placed in custody at the Mbalmayo Prison.
Homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon, and culprits can be punished with jail terms ranging from six months to five years, with a fine from FCFA 20000 to FCFA 200000, according to section 347-1 of the Penal Code. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 28 people in Cameroon have been charged, under the country’s anti-gay laws in the past three years; more than any other African nation. Homosexual activities are on the rise in the country and police and gendarmes have stepped up efforts to clampdown on this.
This was the case in May 2005 when 11 men were arrested at a night club in Yaoundé on suspicion of sodomy, and the government threatened to conduct medical examinations to ‘prove’ their homosexual activity. Many other alleged homosexuals have been arrested and detained under section 347-1 of the Penal Code. A case in point is Jean Claude Roger Mbede, who was arrested by security forces for sending love SMS messages to male acquaintances and sentenced to three years imprisonment at the Kondengui Central Prison. The sentence was protested by international Human Rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, with the latter terming him a prisoner of conscience. Mbede later died in prison, after going for over a month without receiving any medical attention, an activist said.
In November 2011, a Cameroonian court sentenced two young men, Jonas Kimie and Frank Ndome, to five years imprisonment. The duo were arrested outside a nightclub in Yaoundé and charged for homosexuality charges simply because of their appearance and behavior.
In July 2013, a prominent Cameroonian gay rights activist and Journalist, Eric Lembembe, was found murdered in his house in Yaoundé. Lembembe’s neck and feet appeared to have been broken and his face, hands and feet burned with an iron, Human Rights Watch had said.
The case of 31 – year- old Ouake Pierre Raphael has also been making news since April 2019 when he was arrested by the Police following a fracas in a night club in Yaounde with one of his same sex partner due to jealousy from another same sex partner. According to reports gathered, Pierre Raphael, from a typical Christian home, developed the same sex attachment since his school days in GHS Elig Essono. He saw himself admiring a boy during sporting and or any outdoor activity, usually accompanied by erection. At the age of 15, while in form 5, he fell in love with a classmate Oudoua Felix, and dropped a love letter in Oudoua’s school bag. Little did he know the letter will land him in trouble. Sources say he was dismissed from school because of the letter, taking into consideration that homosexuality is criminalised in Cameroon.
Ouake will later be involved in business, since no school admitted him because of his same sex activities. All attempts by his close friend, Johanna, to deter him from his sexual attachment to same sex, including getting a girlfriend, fiance Elysee in 2012, proved futile as Ouake Pierre still went ahead with his same sex engagements.
Sometimes April 2019, Ouake and one of his same sex friends ( Lover) were romancing themselves in the rest room at a night club, when one of his boyfriends approached and engaged him in a discussion that culminated Ouaka’s same sex lovers engaging in a serious fight that disrupted activities in the night club.
The following day Ouake was picked up by the police and subjected to inhumane conditions for several days. He finally had the opportunity to escape from detention, and since he was disowned by his Christian family, and was declared wanted by the Police and the State of Cameroon, Ouake, thanks to some friends in Yaoundé, left the country to a safer destination, to escape any further persecution that could land him jail again.
Barrister Alice Nkom, who has been fighting for rights of homosexuals said “I accuse the state. If there had not been criminalization of homosexuality, he would not have gone to prison and his life would not be over. His life was finished as soon as he went to prison”.
It should be recalled that the office of Barrister Alice Nkom, who fights for homosexuals’ rights have also been ransacked by unknown assailants. Most Homosexuals believe their lives are constantly in danger as they are continuously being persecuted, not only by security operatives but also by the public.
Barrister Atoh Walters Tchemi, a Kumba based Legal Practitioner and head of the Time Law Firm, a gay rights activist, was recently attacked, molested and tortured by unknown individuals, for defending a homosexual Fonya Cornelius, who unfortunately was jailed by the Limbe Court of First Instance.