On Friday, President Biya took to Facebook to announce that he had granted successive audiences to French Ambassador Christophe Guilhou and outgoing South Korean Ambassador Bok-Ryeol Rhyou.

In a comment on the above post, Mimi Mefo reminded the 87-year-old leader that the last vestiges of the rigour and morality he promised Cameroonians have all faded away with the death of journalist Wazizi in military custody.

Hear Mimi Mefo: “A journalist who was arrested by soldiers loyal to you has died in custody. Is that the country you want to leave behind Mr President? Because, you will definitely not be in power forever. Where is the justice and rigour you promised your people? Can you do something about this? We want Justice For Wazizi.”

A statement issued by military spokesperson Commander Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo on Friday, June 5, alleges that Wazizi died of severe sepsis on August 17, 2019. The statement denied that Wazizi had been tortured or abused, and said that the journalist’s family had been in contact with him in custody.

The journalist’s family members however say they were not able to contact Wazizi since shortly after his arrest on August 2, 2019, and were not made aware of his death until a news report on June 3. Police arrested Wazizi on August 2, 2019, and transferred him to military custody on August 7, after which he was held incommunicado, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ. His lawyers, family, and colleagues say they were left in the dark about Wazizi’s whereabouts until news of his death broke.

 “The Cameroonian government’s cruel treatment of journalist Samuel Wazizi is truly shocking. It is unbelievable that authorities covered up his death in custody for 10 months despite repeated inquiries from press freedom advocates and his family, colleagues, friends, and lawyers,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator.

French Ambassador Christophe Guilhou told newsmen in Yaoundé yesterday that President Biya had promised to open an investigation to shed light on the circumstances surrounding Wazizi’s death.

Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that Ms. Mefo, head of English news at the privately-owned Equinoxe Television and Radio at the time, was arrested on November 7, 2018, on charges of "publishing and propagating information that infringes on the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cameroon".

She had been freed on 10 November and charges dropped two days later. An army spokesman said the president had decided to stop the prosecution - by a military tribunal - as "a gesture of magnanimity".

 Local and international media campaign groups had called for her release. Before her arrest, Ms. Mefo had complained of receiving several threats over her reporting of unrest in English-speaking regions. She left Cameroon early last year and is based in Germany where she currently works with Deutsche Welle.