2008 Cameroonian Anti-government Protests - Deaths and Damages

Deaths and Damages

As of 10 March 2008, official government figures put the number of deaths at 40, which includes both government security personnel and civilians. Marafa said that total included those who had been injured and later died. He placed 30 of the deaths in Douala alone, with two dead in Yaoundé and eight in the Northwest, Southwest, and West provinces combined.

On 7 March, the Maison des Droits de L'Homme (House of Human Rights, MDH), a Cameroonian human rights organisation affiliated with the International Federation of Human Rights, claimed the death total was "more than 100". The government denied these figures. According to Madeleine Affite, an MDH member, in one incident alone, 18 people died in Douala. Government forces had protesters trapped on the Wouri River bridge, and people jumped into the river in desperation. Affite says that local fishermen who witnessed the incident have been told by government agents to keep quiet. In another incident, a reported 20 demonstrators were killed in Douala when government forces fired on them. She also claimed that the government has ordered morgues not to release bodies of victims to keep the scale of the deaths caused in the protests a secret. Afité claims that the bans extend to photographing the remains or publishing the results of autopsies of those who died in the protests.

According to the government, during the demonstrations, protesters vandalised and sacked bars, bakeries, government buildings, industrial sites, 33 petrol stations, pharmacies, sales kiosks, security stations, and vehicles. The government estimates the damage caused by the protests at tens of billions of francs CFA (15.2 million euros or US$23.4 million). Government spokesman Marafa claimed that Cameroon had taken a blow to both its economy and its reputation. Finance Minister Johnson Kum Ofon of Meme division estimated the damages to Kumba alone at 695 million francs CFA (US$1.7 million or 1.1 million euros), more than the total amount allotted for infrastructural improvements for 2008.

On 12 April 2008, opposition SDF leader John Fru Ndi called for a national day of mourning for 21 April 2008 to commemorate those who died during the protests and the "death of democracy" in Cameroon due to the April 2008 amendments to the constitution to allow the president to run for more than two terms.