The national president of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, Prof. Maurice Kamto, says the show of security prowess all around his residence is useless.
The CRM party leader, who has not left his home since Sunday, September 20, 2020 had the opportunity to meet with some lawyers today at his Santa Barbara residence.
According to Maurice Kamto, he has just been informed by his lawyers that state authorities have decided that he (Kamto) can not step out of his home until further notice.
The legal minds from the collective of lawyers of late Barrister Sylvain Souop, were allowed into Kamto’s home Monday, September 28 after meeting with the Secretary of state for Defence and the Delegate General for National Security.
In a video, aired by our colleagues of Equinoxe Television, Prof. Maurice Kamto explained that his crime according to the police boss is that he is at the head of a project to unseat the President of the Republic.
He went further to say, his lawyers were notified of the situation only verbally.
The CRM scribe regrets the fact that such a decision to hold him hostage for over a week is being implemented without official written documents.
Maurice Kamto, in the video, “laughed” at the security display around his residence, saying it would in no way stop him and Cameroonians to press for a peaceful change of power in the country.
“I am a citizen of Cameroon, respectful and law abiding, our brothers who are today at the helm of the state are aware of that, and I have every right to hope and dream of being the president of Cameroon…” He said.
To the CRM leader, who so ever leads the country is not his problem, his worry is for that to be done democratically and in a transparent manner.
“If Cameroonians in their majority decide to vote for Paul Biya as their President, it will be ok by me if that is done democratically with strong institutions and texts” he added.
The “House Arrest”
Since the forces of law and order took refuge at Kamto’s residence in Santa Barbara, none of his immediate family members have been allowed to step out of or in to the compound.
One security agent (vigil) who was in the compound before the arrival of the mixed forces was replaced by his company, but as he stepped out of the gate, he was picked up by the men in uniform surrounding the compound.
According to Kamto’s lawyers, the exact location of the security agent is yet to be duly established.
Concerning Maurice Kamto and family, the tension has reduced.
The CRM leader has revealed that authorities have given the go ahead his family members to be allowed to freely move in and out of the compound but with a badge that will be prepared for identification purposes.
For him, the house arrest order remains.
“For the while that we have been blocked home, one of us had a minor health issue that we treated with family first aid, imagine that it was serious, we would have been talking of a different problem now” Kamto revealed in the video.
“Even with the order that my family can move freely, we are still afraid considering what happened to my security agent” he continued.
One of the lawyers who visited Kamto Monday September 28, Barrister Hippolyte Meli, told reporters that the CRM leader has been unable to secure food stuff for the family for over a week now.
The Way Forward
News Upfront has gathered that in the days ahead, the CRM leader would be officially notified of the charges on him.
The Minister of Communication who is Government’s spokesperson, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, recently indicated that the file of Kamto is being examined by competent judicial bodies, while the situation of his political party (Cameroon Renaissance Movement) is equally under scrutiny at the Ministry of Territorial Administration.
In the meantime, some civil society activists continue to press for the release of Kamto and all those arrested before, during and after the September 22 protests.
It should be noted that most of those picked up are still behind bars, and their lawyers continue to decry what they called inhumane treatment on innocent civilians.
