The Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC) has strongly condemned the continued withholding of the body of Anicet Ekane, the national president of MANIDEM, who died in detention on December 1, 2025. In a press release dated February 21 and signed by Maurice Kamto, the national president of the MRC, the party demands that the government immediately return the remains to his family.
The MRC describes this retention of the body as "incomprehensible" and sees it as a possible "political assassination". Anicet Ekane was arrested on October 24, 2025, in Douala and then transferred to Yaoundé. The MRC denounces the conditions of his arrest, claiming that he was "hooded like a wild animal" and detained at the State Defense Secretariat (SED), where he was allegedly deprived of vital medical equipment.
According to the MRC, the circumstances of Ekane's death remain unclear more than three months after his death. The party emphasizes that Anicet Ekane's family is being deprived of the possibility of organizing the funeral and mourning. The MRC accuses the government of Paul Biya of not respecting Ekane's dignity after his death, regardless of political differences.
The MRC links the Ekane affair to the post-election political context of 2025, marked by mass arrests. Human Rights Watch had denounced a "violent crackdown on protesters and ordinary citizens across Cameroon". The MRC demands the immediate release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in the country.
Anicet Ekane, a figure of the Cameroonian opposition and a critic of President Paul Biya, died in detention, sparking outrage and grief. His lawyer, Maître Ngouana Ulrich Juvénal, stated that he was informed of his death early in the morning. Civil society organizations have condemned Ekane's detention, with the coordinator of the NGO New Human Rights, Cyrille Rolande Bechon, calling it a "shock to civil society". Human Rights Watch had called for an impartial investigation into the circumstances of his death.
