Former Minister Marafa Hamidou Yaya has written an open letter to President Biya asking the 83 year old leader to overcome his imaginary phobia for scene of tragedies and disasters and visit the town of Eseka, where the Camrail train 152 service crashed and claimed the lives of more than a hundred people.

Marafa Hamidou Yaya, who is serving a sentence of 20 years in prison on charges of embezzlement related to the purchase of presidential plane, revealed in the letter that the dignity and emotion of a nation requires the chief executive to visit the site of the accident. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that the town of Eseka in the Nyong et Kelle Division in the Central Region is located less than 128 km from Yaoundé.

The former secretary general at the presidency of the republic added that the commission set up by the head of state on October the 25th and composed solely of members of the government cannot guarantee impartiality, independence and transparency. Marafa Hamidou Yaya, recognized as political prisoner by the US State Department in 2012, suggested that the president should learn from the tragedy of October 21 and provide the country with modern infrastructure in the transport sector.

Biya has a track record of not visiting areas in the country rocked by disasters. He shied away from the Lake Nyos gas disaster, the Nsam Efoulan fire accident, the Mbanga Pongo plane crash and recently the Eseka train derailment. President Biya is yet to pay a visit to the Far North region which is under continues incursion from the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

By Rita Akana