Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Joseph Essama
Published on 2024-03-18 17:06:25
In a complaint filed with the police in Yaoundé, Professor Michel Ghislain Oyane, a teacher specializing in electoral sociology and political marketing, says he is being persecuted for proposing an exam topic that offends allies of the government.
Unbelievable but true! A university professor is a victim of death threats. His fault is having proposed an exam topic to his Master I students. In a complaint filed with the police, Professor Michel Ghislain Oyane, a specialist in electoral sociology and political marketing, wrote: “As a Research Professor at the University of Yaoundé II, specializing in electoral sociology and political marketing, I teach several subjects at my university and in other public universities. It is in this sense that I have been teaching for several years at the University of Bertoua, including the teaching of electoral sociology and election monitoring in Master I Political Science at the Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences, which was taught from Monday 6th to Friday 10th November 2023.”
“After teaching this subject, I returned to Yaoundé and, at the request of the faculty administration, sent an exam topic on 23rd January 2024 for the normal session of the first semester. The topic sent for the normal session (with corrections included) was entitled: Is the Cameroonian voter emotional? After this normal session, I sent another topic on 19th February 2024 for the makeup exam (with corrections included). Entitled The 2018 presidential election was won by Paul Biya, candidate of the Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People (ROPC) with 71.28% of the votes. In your opinion, was this success due to the strength of this political party or rather to electoral fraud by the governing system?”, continues the teacher.
It is from this moment that the researcher’s troubles begin. “Since 21st February 2024, my life has become a living hell where I am subjected to threats of all kinds, unbearable psychological harassment, and more seriously, attempts to harm my physical integrity through several malicious maneuvers (surveillance, stalking, etc.). All this violence directed towards me is the result of my topic submitted for a scientific discussion by my Master I Political Science students. This simple academic evaluation has become a state affair with me as the designated enemy. I have been harassed and threatened since 21st February 2024 and my life is now in danger as well as that of my family, simply because I have exercised my profession as a university teacher, which should benefit from academic freedom in the performance of its duties,” he concludes.
It is remembered that after proposing the said test, the teacher had already received several requests for explanations from his superiors. A harassment criticized by several teachers who find no issue with the topic.
Read the original article(French) on Mimi Mefo Info
