André Blaise Essama sentenced to three months in prison

André Blaise Essama, who destroyed the monument of General Maréchal Leclerc which was built since the French administration, has been put behind bars.

Detained at the Central Prison in Douala since September 3, 2015, he has been sentenced to 3 months in prison and a fine of 150 000 FCFA by the Court of First Instance (CFI) in Douala-Bonanjo, for the destruction of public property.

He claimed great figures in the history of Cameroon should be recognized. He repeatedly requested for the monuments of national heroes like Ruben Um Nyobè in large cities of Cameroon.

Very well known on the national scene, this activist, André Blaise Essama, is now paying the price of “his fight”.

In addition, on August 25, he brought down what he called "the statue of an unknown soldier” from its pedestal. It was installed at the public garden in Bonanjo, Douala. An act which he justified as; “we have entered into a system of governance where we honour executioners and we dishonor our heroes. This has to stop.”

“I prefer, just like many Cameroonian, to see the statue of Lieutenant Ndonkeng, one of the first officers of the Cameroonian army who stumbled at the front in the Far North facing Boko Haram, erected at this place." The concerned noted that he sent a request to the Communauté Urbaine de Douala (Cud) in this sense without success.

“We asked Cud, for more than a year, to simply indicate a place to erect the monument of Um Nyobé. We are still without response,” launched the nationalist. The latter noted that Ruben Um Nyobé, for example, deserves an effigy.