Let me die in prison, not in hospital - Marafa to Biya

Famous Prisoner, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, wants to be taken out of the Yaoundé Hospital Teaching Centre (CHU).

According to Marafa’s Lawyer, Ndiva Kofele Kale, “Marafa has decided to return to his cramped, humid and windowless cell in the so-called secondary prison in the National Secretariat for Defense (SED) because the doctors at CHU have not been able to diagnose his ailment much less treat him.”

Kofele-Kale, took time off from grieving the loss of his nephew, to travel to Yaoundé to see his client last week.

He told The Journal that he found “the famous patient exactly where he left him the week earlier. The only noticeable major difference, he said, was the increased number of armed gendarmes and other security guarding him - numbering close to 50.”

Marafa, according to his counsel, questioned his continued stay at the hospital and worried about the possibility of exposure to other diseases.

Marafa is quoted as saying that since President Biya has elected to brush aside his lawyer's appeal to have him evacuated to the American Hospital in Paris for expert diagnosis and specialist care, he prefers to return to SED and leave his fate in the hands of the Almighty!

The former minister’s fast deteriorating health condition is becoming a real cause for concern to the authorities especially following the death of another minister, Catherine Abena, former Secretary of State for Secondary Education, who died some months ago while in prison. Her death was not taken kindly by her kinsmen.

If Marafa suffers a similar fate, apparently the reactions would not only be widespread but could be more intense and a huge blow to the country’s image.

The Journal gathered that Marafa‘s counsel had officially lodged a request to move him abroad for proper treatment, but no response has been received.