BY Cynthia Bih
Of recent the phenomenon of the practice of same sex is gaining momentum in Cameroon. Even though some gay rights defenders in Cameroon have disclosed that practicing same sex relation is their fundamental human rights, government, and some religions bodies like the Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon, through their Bishops, have condemned it with the strongest energy, reasons the government has launched a manhunt for those practicing it.
According to gay rights defender, Barrister Alice Nkom, for the past years homosexuals and lesbians have seen themselves thrown behind bars and jailed, which, according to her, is wrong because homosexuality is a human right.
“Those who find pleasure in the practice, their human rights must be respected” she said.
In November 2011, a Cameroonian court convicted two young men, Jonas Kamie and Frank Ndome, who had been arrested for same sex activity outside a nightclub in Yaounde, based solely on their appearance and behaviour and were consequently sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Criminalising homosexuality, Barrister Alice Nkom, is bad law, thus repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience. The gay rights defender disclosed that in July 2013, a prominent gay rights activist and journalist, Eric Lembembe was found dead. His neck and feet appeared to have been broken and his face, hands and feet burned with an electric iron.
In 2017 Barrister Alice Nkom, who has been fighting for the rights of homosexuals and lesbians said “I accused the state that if there had not been criminalisation of homosexuality, Lembembe would not have gone to prison and his life wouldn’t be over. His life was finished as soon as he went to prison”, and died under heartbreaking circumstances in prison.
In 2021, a Cameroonian court in the economic capital, Douala, slammed a five-year jail term and a fine of FCFA 200.000 and a cost of FCFA 29,300 CFCA to two men, Njueukomloic Midrel aka Shakiro and Mouthe Roland aka Patricia, guilty of attempted homosexuality practice.
A prominent human rights lawyer and a gay rights activist, Barrister Atoh Walter Tchemi, a Kumba-based legal practitioner and Head of The Time Law Firm, was recently attacked, molested and tortured by unidentified individuals for defending a homosexual, Fonya Cornelius, who unfortunately was jailed by the Limbe Court of First Instance.
Following the Douala incident, the government immediately gave firm instructions to security operatives to crack down all homosexuals and lesbians.
One of the homosexuals listed for arrest and persecution is Loydevic Zidane. Reports from Kumba, South West Region of Cameroon said Loydevic had developed interest in boys at the disadvantage of the female sex, reason he was too close to a boy, whose only name we got as Joel. Family sources say Loydevic had rejected all suspicion about his relationship with Joel. Heaven break lose when Loydevic was caught red-handed by a group of boys making love with Joel in broad daylight on April 21, 2022. He was beaten, molested and later taken to the Police Station in Kumba for interrogation.
Loydevic was finally found guilty by a court in Kumba and sentenced to five years imprisonment. However, thanks to the intervention of their family lawyer, he was released on December 4, 2023. His released was short-lived after the government authorities heard about it, an arrest warrant was issued for him.
Loydevic was equally regarded as an outcast in the community for same sex is considered a taboo. Family sources have hinted that Loydevic Zidane, faced with these challenges, disappeared and his whereabouts, as we went to press, remained cloudy. Security operatives continue making impromptu checks around their neighbourhood to track him down.
According to Human Rights Watch, at least 38 people in Cameroon have been charged under the country’s anti-gay laws in the past three years – more than any other African nation.
Homosexuality is illegal and criminalised in Cameroon and culprits can be punished with jail term ranging from six months to five years and a fine of from FCFA 20,000 to FCFA 200,000, according to section 347-1 of Law No. 2016/007 of 12 July 2016 of the Penal Code. Law No.2010/012 of 21 December 2010 on cyber crime and cyber criminality in its section 83-1 criminalises online same sex proposition to a person of their sex through electronic communication with an imprisonment of one to two years and a fine of FCFA 500,000 to FCFA 1,000,000.