Cameroon main opposition leader arrested over ‘illegal protests’

• Posted on January 29, 2019
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

Prof. Maurice Kamto, Cameroon’s main opposition leader, has reportedly been arrested, his party and rights activist in the Central African country confirmed on Monday, January 28.

Kamto, who is leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), has been taken to an unknown destination, according to a lawyer in the Anglophone region, Agbor Nkongho.

Even though government has yet to comment on the development, it is largely believed that the arrest, which took place in Douala, is linked to a peaceful protest by Kamto’s part over the weekend.

Reports indicate that he is not the only one detained but that other members of the party have also been held and are due to be sent to Yaounde for questioning.

He came in second in the October 2018 presidential election which was won by the incumbent Paul Biya.

The former Biya appointee led an opposition coalition that involved renowned lawyer Akere Muna; the pair struck a deal with about 24-hours to the opening of votes.

He was the first to declare himself winner of the vote following which security was deployed to his party offices and his residence. He was briefly put under house arrest but all measures subsequently withdrawn.

He was also at the heart of a legal challenge seeking the annulment of the presidential result. His team, however, saw their petition dismissed by the Constitutional Court which affirmed the seventh straight mandate of Biya.

The President of the Movement pour la Renaissance du Cameroun (MRC ) known in English as the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM); a political party in Cameroon Prof Maurice Kamto has been arrested and taken to an unknown destination. pic.twitter.com/RMswxn7xBE

— Agbor Nkongho (@AgborNkonghoF) January 28, 2019