Policing
Law & Justice
The Law Works: What Cameroonians Don't Know About Their Own System
The writer reflects on three personal arrests in Cameroon and the broader cultural distrust of the legal system, arguing that ordinary citizens lack basic knowledge of their rights and how law actually operates—a gap that leaves them vulnerable to corruption, intimidation, and worse outcomes than the law itself would impose.
Know Your Police Force: Ranks and Required Qualifications in Cameroon
A straightforward guide to the hierarchical structure of the Cameroonian police force, detailing four main ranks subdivided into twelve total grades, each with corresponding shoulder insignia, and the educational qualifications required for entry at each level.
45 Minutes in Police Custody: The Anglophone Crisis and Extrajudicial Practice
The writer recounts an arbitrary arrest in Buea during the Anglophone crisis, detained without stated cause and coerced toward bribery. The incident illustrates the normalization of lawlessness among security forces deployed to Anglophone regions, where curfews are enforced by assumption rather than announcement, and the constitution itself has become negotiable.