“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. They claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.” – Kwame Nkrumah
This is the third night that Rebecca Enonchong our Ayoo Africa Editor in Chief is spending as a detainee in Douala, Cameroon. Don’t know who she is? Here are some of her accomplishments:
- Listed in Forbes magazine as one of the top female tech founders in Africa.
- Forbes Africa listed her as one of Africa’s 50 most powerful women in 2020.
- Board Chair of AfriLabs; a power network of over 174 innovation centers supporting over 500,000 entrepreneurs in Africa.
- Co-Founder of I/O Spaces a U.S based innovation space
According to a CNN’s report in conjunction with a local source, she has been in Government custody since Tuesday night.
Social activist Edith Kahbang Walla told CNN that “On Tuesday she was invited to the Gendarmerie (policing force)…and she went. When she arrived there, they began asking her questions about some cases she has with her family concerning inheritance,” Walla explained. Enonchong would later be accused of “contempt” and arrested according to a “verbal instruction” by the region’s attorney general, said Walla,
Sylvain Oum, Enonchong’s lawyer, confirmed Walla’s comments. “We have received no documentation of what she (Enonchong) is accused of, nor formal written complaint against her.”
The Cameroonian government has frequently been accused of repression and various forms of human rights abuses. Cameroonian authorities did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
How can you help?
- Sign this #FreeRebecca petition on Change.org
- Follow the hashtag #freerebecca and share this picture/tweet with your social network.
- Visit free-rebecca.com
Below are some of the social media protests. Lend your voice as well to FREE REBECCA!!!
