Cameroon has arrested an influential tech figure for African entrepreneurs on unknown charges

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A photo of a green truck from a police unit in Cameroon

The arrest of Rebecca Enonchong, an investor in African tech startups and CEO of a US-based software company, is the latest example of Cameroon’s troubling love for arbitrary detention of its citizens in recent years.

The Cameroon-born tech entrepreneur lives in the United States but this week was in Douala, Cameroon’s main port city. According to reports, she was asked by an arm of the country’s police to allegedly answer questions about an investigation into a family member, but was arrested after a complaint of contempt of court by the government attorney general on August 10. .

In addition to detaining those who are critical of the government, Cameroon is also known for restricting internet access, especially because it sought to limit the dissemination of information globally about its actions during the Anglophone crisis.

Enonchong is best known in Africa for being the founder of AppsTech, which operates in the United States and Cameroon, and for co-founding the African Business Angels Network, which promotes early-stage investments in startups across the continent. With over two decades as an entrepreneur, she is a highly respected figure in African technology and innovation.

Investors and key figures on the African tech scene are calling for its release. AfriLabs, the continent’s largest network of innovation hubs where Enonchong is chairman of the board, described his arrest as a blatant disregard for the rule of law, especially since there appeared to be no warrant for his arrest.

We are disappointed with the Cameroon government for this development and strongly urge them to #FreeRebecca, AfriLabs said. It is the birth of another unfortunate hashtag in the Central African country that has been the source of many recent concerns for human rights observers.

A series of curious detentions and repressions in Cameroon

Enonchong’s arrest follows a similar event in late May, when Cameroonian police threw Amungwa Tanyi Nicodemus, a human rights lawyer, into prison. He was charged with inciting terrorism after filing a proceeding complaint in a customer case. Human Rights Watch said the allegations were bogus and called for his immediate release.

The story continues

Last December, Wilfried Siewe, a German engineer of Cameroonian origin, was finally released from prison after almost two years. He was arrested after police found a video of a protest held in Berlin against Paul Biya, the 88-year-old president of Cameroon, who reportedly rules the country from the comfort of a hotel in Switzerland.

Some initial remarks on the Enonchongs case have suggested that his stinging criticisms of the repressive Cameroon government may have played a role in his current situation. He has often used his Twitter account, which has over 120,000 followers, to intervene directly on Cameroon’s most sensitive political issues, including a crisis in the Anglophone half of the country that resulted in over 4,000 civilian deaths.

It’s Cameroon, so be very worried

A photo of Enonchong leaving a court on 11 August shows her in the company of Edith Kah Walla, leader of the Cameroon Peoples Party (CPP), part of the opposition to the Biyas government. The Enonchongs case is under discussion in the court of first instance in the economic capital of Cameroon, Douala. At the August 12 hearing, Alice Kom, the first French-speaking Cameroonian woman to be called to the Cameroonian bar, was present, as was the Attorney General who brought the case.

Rebecca was held for contempt of magistrate or contempt of court, but then the indictment charge in many of these cases is mainly used to silence critics, Kathleen Ndongmo, a Cameroonian member of the Open Internet for, told Quartz. Democracy Initiative. He believes the international community should be very concerned, describing Enonchong’s arrest as a deliberate attempt to silence those who speak out for the oppressed in Cameroon.

The hope is that his case doesn’t come close to what happened to Fidelis Ndeh-Che, another Cameroonian tech entrepreneur arrested and jailed under questionable circumstances in 2019. It was a story that Enonchong, in a widely shared Twitter thread, recalled as a tragic story of one of Africa’s brightest minds in the field of technology. He is now serving a life sentence for treason in a Cameroon prison.

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