Opinions & Features

You would be thrown behind bars in these African countries if you insult the president

President Paul Biya of Cameroon | Voice of America

Cameroon

In Cameroon, saying anything bad about the president, Paul Biya, might just earn you one to five years imprisonment and/or a fine of 20,000 to 20 million CFA francs ($42-$42,260). And this is beside the fact that your accusations may very well be accurate.

Per the penal code, truth is not a defense. And while there may be no specific law against it, you definitely want to refrain from saying too much about the president’s wife.

A Douala based writer and printer, Bertrand Teyou, was on November 19, 2010, sentenced by the Court of First Instance, Bonanjo, Douala, to pay a fine of FCFA 2 million or serve two years in prison for instance.

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Etsey Atisu

Etsey Atisu prefers to be called a born writer, before anything else. He is a trained journalist, a consultant and a blogger. He is passionate about writing right and that fuels his desires to tell contemporary African stories from the angle of the African. He is avid about reading. He is also an author of a relationship-themed book, Epistles To My Bubune, which catalogues the sentiments of a prospective husband, writing to his prospective wife, concerning basically all that he hopes to see in their future marriage.

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