When lawmakers abdicate role.

As ‘representatives of the people,’ Members of Parliament cannot remain silent, especially after a post-presidential election violence has been mired with the death of dozens of compatriots, among them a prominent opposition leader, whose passage has attracted national and international censure.

In the national press, newspapers had telling headlines on the death of Anicet Ekane: "Crackdown on opposition goes wrong" (The Guardian Post;” "Martyr of the political cause" (Forum Libre); "They killed him" (ActuCameroun website), and even this haunting question on the front page of the daily newspaper, Emergence: "What crime did he commit?"

For the international media, Le Monde, France's leading daily headlined it: "Cameroonian opposition figure dies in custody"; explaining that "the death of Anicet Ekane, who was detained after the disputed presidential election in October, is prompting accusations that the authorities ignored repeated pleas to transfer him to a hospital".

Other media headlines with identical reporting came from European, Arabic and African Media. There were also emotional outpouring and condemnations calling for independent investigations, [which President Biya has, through the Government Spokesman, Emmanuel Rene Sadi, promised it would hold] from the EU, civil society, human rights organisations and prominent Cameroonian opposition politicians.

In the midst of that torrent of grief, anger, accusations, vexation and impunity, the country’s both houses of Parliament maintained a suspicious silence, which could be interpreted as an abdication of its core responsibilities to protect citizens, uphold the rule of law, and safeguard democracy.

The silence can normalise abuse, embolden perpetrators, and have damaging effects on victims and society as a whole. 

As The Guardian Post reported exclusively yesterday, parliament closed the November session without mention of the post-election related deaths that drew national and international attention of rage.

An exception was Hon Koupit Adamou of the Cameroon Democratic Union, CDU, party. The MP for Noun Centre Constituency told reporters that he was disappointed with the Speaker's discourse which avoided Anicet Ekane's demise in questionable circumstances.

“We are closing this session on December 2, a day after Cameroon lost one of its worthy sons, President Anicet Ekane,” Hon Koupit said.

He then pointed out that “following the post-election crisis in Cameroon, we do not understand why, in his speech, the Speaker of the National Assembly [Hon Cavaye Djibril] can talk about the post-election crisis without mentioning the passing of Ekani Anicet, one of the fighters for democracy in our country".

He added that the speech was entirely “disappointing”, and went on to honour the memory of the illustrious son of the country and vibrant politician, whom he said, fought for change of the “bad system”.

The crushing majority of the ruling party parliamentarians, in their hushed silence, may not agree with him that the system is bad and urgently needs "reforms" as President Biya promised during his swearing-in ceremony almost a month ago,

The system favours them; but not their constituents; not those who advocate that a politician, any human, should not die in custody.

Does controlling government action not require that they should set up their own commission, independent of that promised by government, to ascertain the exact cause of the death of the MANIDEM President?

As representatives of the people, could they not have, even on humanitarian ground, allocate a minute of silence to the death of Anicet Ekani and dozens of other fellow citizens who have died in the post-election violence?

Were they not in a legal and oversight position to use a Private Member Bill to amend the electoral law and block loopholes which independent commentators of mettle have noted sparked the violence and uncertainties that continue to hinder our democratic process?

The lawmakers might have, in the spirit of anachronism, thought keeping silence in the frenetic uncertainty of post-election violence would jeopardise their own re-election, expected in some five months from now.

But they should be reminded that their silence in the sights of mourning mothers and the tears of compatriots who no longer have the strength to cry out even in their houses as a result of post-election violence, will haunt them when they return to canvass for votes, not for President Biya, but for themselves. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3645 of Thursday December 04, 2025