The MRC of Prof Maurice Kamto is irked by the failure of the Biya regime to take action following the kidnapping of Justice Nchang Augustin, Attorney General of North-West Court of Appeal, on 29 December 2024 in Bamenda.
In a statement signed by Kamto on 2 January 2025, he wonders why after failing to address the issue in his New Year’s address not even the Prime Minister has taken up the issue.
He recalled that three months after the kidnapping of Sub-prefect of IDABATO, in the South-West Region, Mr. Roland EWANE, the Biya regime has shown no concern.
Kamto said these kidnappings remind Cameroonians of the absurdity of the continuation of the Anglophone crisis, the keys to whose resolution remains in the hands of the State.
He used the opportunity to express MRC’s “ sincere compassion and total solidarity” with the magistrate’s family and urged on all Cameroonian leaders to “show empathy towards all Cameroonians in distress, and even more so when a representative of the State finds himself in such a dramatic situation while performing his duties.” Following is the statement in its entirety:
MRC statement on the kidnapping of The Attorney General of The North-West Court of Appeal
Information currently circulating on social media, which we mention with all due caution, reports the kidnapping on December 29, 2024, in Bamenda, of the Attorney General of the North-West Court of Appeal, Mr. NCHANG Augustin.
If this information is confirmed, it would add to the kidnapping followed by severe physical torture of the Sub-prefect of IDABATO, in the South-West Region, Mr. Roland EWANE, on the night of October 1 to 2, 2024.
Several months after the kidnapping of the latter, there is still no news of this servant of the State, whose fate no longer seems to concern the top of the government.
The veracity of the new kidnapping would remind, through new pain for the victim’s family and the Nation, the absurdity of the continuation of this low-intensity armed conflict, the keys to its resolution remaining in the hands of the State.
The President of the Republic is said to be the most informed citizen of the country, which would be quite normal. The kidnapping of the unfortunate Attorney General would have taken place on the evening of December 29. How then, during his address to the nation on December 31, 2024, did the President of the Republic not have a word of compassion for the family of the high magistrate? He preferred to turn a blind eye to the reality of the country’s security difficulties, which continue to claim victims, and to repeat, like a mantra, the unity and indivisibility of the country, as if this constituted an obstacle to resolving the Anglophone crisis.
How can it be understood that, in the absence of the Head of State, the Prime Minister, head of the Government, has not reacted, several days now after the alleged kidnapping?
With all due caution, in my personal name and on behalf of the activists, members, and supporters of the MRC, on behalf of all peace-loving Cameroonians, I express to the family of the high magistrate, NCHANG Augustin, my sincere compassion and total solidarity.
The MRC urges his captors not to harm his life and not to inflict any act of torture on him.
The MRC exhorts the current leaders of the country to show empathy towards all Cameroonians in distress, and even more so when a representative of the State finds himself in such a dramatic situation while performing his duties.
The MRC calls on the Government to finally and urgently communicate on the fate of this high magistrate, for the morale of the Nation, and in particular that of the civil servants who are to be deployed throughout the national territory.
Done in Yaoundé on January 2, 2024
Maurice KAMTO,
National President of the MRC,
MRC and APC candidate in the upcoming presidential election.
