Why Lapiro Was Smuggled Out Of Newbell

Why Lapiro Was Smuggled Out Of Newbell

By Ntaryike Divine Jr. in Douala

Hardnosed Cameroonian singer, Lambo Sandjo Pierre Roger aka Lapiro De Mbanga regained his liberty Friday 8 April, one day prior to the set expiration of his three-year confinement at the brimful Newbell Central Prison in Douala.   Across city, observers almost unanimously agree the stealthy and short-notice sneaking out of the blunt government critic by officials of the penitentiary facility was far from naïve.

In the last few weeks, rights defenders had marshaled hundreds and possibly thousands of well-wishers to congregate at the prison precincts on 9 April and serve Lapiro a hilarious “welcome.”  But the prison superintendent, Dieudonne Engonga Mintsang spoiled the party.  Flanked by two aides, he smuggled out Lapiro and escorted him to his Mbanga residence just after midday Friday.

Sources told The Post Saturday the decision, hinged on security concerns, was instructed by local administrative officials petrified by prospects of overspills of anti-government adrenaline.  “I was not freed, but sacked from prison and escorted to my home in Mbanga by the prison registrar himself,” Lapiro joked on the phone hours later. 

Lapiro was arrested and detained on 9 April 2008 over charges of inflaming the deadly nationwide insurrection over soaring living costs [in Mbanga].  Government figures put the death toll at 40, but human rights watchdogs said some 140 people were killed mostly by anti-riot troops.  Lapiro was accused of fanning the upheaval as well as complicity in looting and property wreckage among others.  All through the widely monitored and severally adjourned trial, the ace Makossa singer claimed his innocence.

Despite a chorus of disapproval by rights defenders within and beyond the country intimating the case was politically-motivated, alongside incongruous witness accounts; the Moungo High Court in Nkongsamba on 28 September the same year, slammed him a three-year-term plus a fine of FCFA 280 million.  It is widely believed the jail term was an attempt to shut up the artist who at the time, denounced a constitutional amendment that eliminated presidential term limits in Cameroon in a popular song titled “Constipated Constitution” [or Consitution Constipée in French].

Lapiro’s release coincides with this year’s planned presidential poll and just-concluded electoral reforms at the National Assembly.  He says rather than succumb to intimidation; he is ready more than ever before to spit more fire against the 29-year-serving Biya regime.  “I’m not yet free.  It’s not over yet.  I believe I’m still going back to prison because now, what I will say, what I will sing will be very tough.  God knows I will be more bitter than ever,” he declared after the release.  He has announced plans to publish a book that will query whether or not he is a victim of politics and a programmed extermination.

Meantime, Freemuse, a Denmark-based international organization promoting freedom of expression for musicians has raised concerns over Lapiro’s post-incarceration security.  “We’ve worked for his release for almost three years in collaboration with many good colleagues and sister organizations. We will continue to observe closely what happens to Lapiro. We know that he may still face security problems and we hope that we will be able to retain his career as soon as possible,” Marie Korpe, Freemuse Executive Director, announced Friday.

Other international music and writers’ watchdogs like Freedom Now, International Pen, Mondomix and Vigier Guitars say they are all ears on the ground too.  While in prison, Lapiro was awarded the Dutch non-governmental-organization’s Oxfam Novib/en Award in 2008 and then the FCFA-12.5-million Freedom to Create Prize from Freemuse in 2009.