Marafa Hamidou Yaya

Marafa Hamidou Yaya (born 1952) is a Cameroonian politician, former minister, and senior member of the ruling party. He held several government positions before being arrested in 2012 in connection with a corruption case.

Early life and education Marafa Hamidou Yaya was born in 1952 in Garoua, located in the northern region of Cameroon. He comes from the Fulani aristocracy of Garoua. Marafa Hamidou Yaya completed his entire primary and secondary education in Garoua, graduating in 1973 with a baccalaureate D at the lycee of Garoua. after that, he earned a Bachelor's degree in Geology from the University of Yaounde in 1976. He pursued higher education in the United States, at the University of Kansas, where he graduated as an engineer specializing in petrochemistry. He served as Special Adviser to the President before being appointed Secretary General of the Presidency from 1997 to 2001. In 2001, he became Minister of State and, from August 2002, served as Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization a strategic post in the Cameroonian government. During his tenure, he was known to push for decentralization reforms. He was tried and convicted by the Special Criminal Court in September 2012 on charges of "intellectual complicity" in a scheme to embezzle funds related to the purchase of a presidential aircraft. In May 2016, the Supreme Court of Cameroon confirmed his conviction but reduced his sentence to 20 years in prison. Human rights bodies and observers have raised concerns about the fairness of the trial, the legal basis of the charge ("intellectual complicity"), and possible political motivations behind his prosecution.

Literary work Despite being incarcerated, Marafa has remained politically active via open letters, essays, and public statements.