A close relative to fallen Cameroonian Army General, Martin Tumenta has said without further explanation that they believe the General was murdered.

The General died early on Monday, November 30, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the Central African Republic, CAR, and Head of MINUSCA, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga announced.

General Tumenta’s demise was later confirmed by Cameroon’s Minister of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo in a communiqué.

Though official sources barely said the Commander of the Force of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA, died following an illness, we gathered that he had been hospitalized in a US hospital before being transferred to Lagos Nigeria for spiritual intercession.

It was in the course of meeting Nigeria’s Prophet T.B Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations that he gave up the ghost, unconfirmed sources said.

Speculations are going viral that Tumenta’s death may not have been of natural causes. An authority from Tumenta’s native Babungo village in Ngoketunjia division, North West region told The Cameroon Journal “the general was killed.” He however did not point accusing fingers at any one.

The general’s corpse is still in Lagos and his funeral programme is yet to be made public.

So far, besides government, many people continue to extend sympathies over his demise. While extending his condolences to the family of the General and to the government and people of Cameroon, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon noted: “General Tumenta will be remembered for his commitment and dedication as Force Commander of MINUSCA, as well as the previous African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic, MISCA.”

Following the death of General Tumenta, Anglophones are left with only three army generals out of some 34 in the country. The three are: Elokobi Daniel Njock and James Tataw Tabe, both from the South West Region, as well as Ivo Desancio Yenwo, who hails from the North West Region like the departed general.

General Tumenta’s demise brings to seven, the number of Cameroonian generals who have died. The others include: Abdoulaye Oumarou Garoua, Blaise Benae Mpecke, Gabriel Taka Songola, Roland Mambou Deffo, Mohamadou Hamadiko and Paul Yakana Guebama.

Bio data

The 61-year old general was part of the 10th batch of trainees of the Combined Services Military Academy, EMIA. He equally trained in the United States as well as in French War Schools.

Tumenta was the first Commander of the Parachute Unit of Koutaba in 1995. He has also been commander of the Ngaoundal Training and Perfection Centre for the Armed Forces. Later he was Commander of the Operation Delta in the Bakassi peninsula. In 2010, he was appointed Director of Human Resources in the Ministry of Defense.

Tumenta was the commander of the military component of the Africa-led International Support Mission in the CAR, MISCA, deployed by the AU from December 2013 to September 2014 to assist in the stabilization of the situation and the establishment of necessary conditions for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping operation.