Interview: Gov't is looking for 'scapegoats' - Marafa

In a recent interview granted Jeune Afrique from his prison cell, on some recent happenings in the country, the former Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, stated that the accusations levelled against him for plotting a rebellion are due to the fact that those in power are looking for scapegoats.

Asked if it is possible that the Boko Haram Islamic sect can recruit in North Cameroon, he replied: “If jihadists of the Middle East succeed to recruit in Europe, why would Nigerian Islamists not recruit from their immediate neighbours in a context of poverty and desperation.

These regions, like those of the borders with the Central African Republic, have been abandoned in the last 30 years. No relevant economic project has been done in this area.

He further stated that, if the Adamawa is more and more linked to the rest of Cameroon, the North, undoubtedly, remains a potentially rich but underexploited region.

The Far North, the most populated region, on her part, is plagued with many problems ranging from droughts, to floods, to famine and a serious educational deficiency. “It is not surprising that youths are sensitive to the clarion call of Boko Haram,” he remarked.

Regarding accusations by some media organs of his plotting a rebellion from the North, the former Secretary General at the Presidency refutes the claims.

To him, these are simple fantasies. He maintained that being incapable of resolving security problems plaguing the North, those in power are looking for scapegoats.

“The Kolofata killings in June, the kidnap of the wife of the Vice PM, the Lamido of Kolofata and his wife, puts us face with our incapability to assure security in the region. So, what is the administration doing; they are looking for scapegoats.

Marafa, however, said that he believes that Cameroon’s social and economic model is so solid that radical Islamism cannot find root herein and that our borders are well known, that Boko Haram would not be able to cross. “But the rebellion in the North is a fantasy,” he reiterated.

Guerandi Mbara Talking on the disappearance of the opposition leader, Guerandi Mbara, and the assassination of his (Marafa’s) secretary, Christiane Soppo, he said there are signs of radicalisation of power.

“The investigation of your magazine on the disappearance of Guerandi Mbara substantiates the idea that individual groups from occultist tribunals make justice parallel with the simple intention of satisfying their whims and caprices.

“Why do you think I am accused of fomenting a rebellion? Is my imprisonment not enough? They should silence me definitely. My assistant was killed with a machete, a former opposition leader to the regime disappeared. The warnings are clear to all,” Marafa quipped.

Marafa’s Forthcoming Book In the Jeune Afrique interview, it is hinted that Marafa has just finished writing a book which should hit the stands in the days ahead. But he made no mention to the title or the message.

He said he began writing the book in secret, while he was still in Government and now that he’s no longer accountable or subjected to any form of Governmental solidarity; he has chosen to express himself in all independence. It is due to the independence that he affirms that he is a political prisoner.

He intimated that he had hunch that anytime he was ousted from Government, he would be arrested; as he had intimated to the US Ambassador at the time that, “operation sparrow-hawk is a political cleansing programme” which he would not miss.

Asked why he didn’t run when he had the opportunity, he said: “I had no reason to run, but all the reasons to stay to publicly explain my role in the Presidential plane affair. In this line of thought, the court hearing was a good thing.

“The judges admitted that I didn’t embezzle or receive any dime. This didn’t stop them from condemning me to 25 years imprisonment for ‘intellectual complicity to embezzlement’. But everybody knows that I am innocent and I am a political prisoner”.

He said he didn’t regret trusting Cameroon’s justice. He admits that; “I was condemned wrongly by judges under pressure.”

The 62-year-old Marafa has been battling with respiratory and ophthalmological problems and spends his time in prison meditating on a development project, peace and equity, dubbed “Societe de Confiance”.

He said he has been restricted access to newspapers but that some few visitors who are authorised to see him always try to keep him abreast with recent happenings.