Our correspondent from Bafoussam reports that 38 young inmates, aged 16 to 28, have regained their freedom after the Françoise Puene Freedom Foundation, an NGO, covered their body warrant fees.

This was the eighth intervention by the foundation since 2014, aimed at assisting indigent detainees trapped in Cameroon’s overcrowded prisons due to unpaid financial penalties.

« Across the country, we found that the Bafoussam central prison was predominantly filled with young people—some as young as 17, 18, or even 16. The oldest was 28», explains Françoise Puene, founder and president of the foundation.

Body warrants, a legal requirement under Cameroon’s Penal Procedure Code, mandate that convicts settle financial penalties or restitutions upon completing their prison terms. Failure to do so keeps them incarcerated indefinitely, worsening prison overcrowding.

«Our prisons are severely overcrowded. Many detainees remain imprisoned because they cannot afford to pay their body warrants», admits Adray Epente Tazeu, Secretary-General of the Western Region’s governor’s office.

Ex-inmate Efred Ngayeu, who spent nine months behind bars instead of the six-month sentence he received, shared his relief: «I’m truly grateful they paid for me».

The 38 beneficiaries had body warrant amounts ranging from 40,000 to 150,000 Central African Francs (approximately €60 to €228).