Yaounde Military Tribunal: Gendarme Jailed For Desertion

Private Mafing Bello Sandrine was offered the option of paying 145,000 FCFA in lieu of the 9-month suspended sentence.

Gendarme Private Mafing Bello Sandrine has certainly begun her career on a bumpy note after receiving a 9-month suspended sentence. She was on November 17, 2016, arraigned before the Yaounde Military Tribunal for abandoning work. Hearing the matter was Mrs. Justice Zakiyatou Alioum, with Captain Mangoum Deffo as Prosecutor. The accused was charged with desertion in the country in peace time, punishable under Article 74 of the Penal Code and Article 194 of Military Justice Code.

Dressed in a blouse and long flowing skirt, all made of local fabric, the pregnant lady aged about 21, did not have much to say except plead guilty to the one-count charge. Asked by Justice Alioum if she had any other thing to say in her defence, Mafing could barely murmur “No!” as she fought hard to stop herself from sobbing openly. Captain Mangoum Deffo told the court that earlier this year, Private Mafing Bello Sandrine kept away from work for six days without permission. She serves with the Department of Administrative, Financial and Land Affairs at Gendarmerie Headquarters, Yaounde.

The Prosecutor tendered a copy of the preliminary inquiry conducted by gendarmes on February 2, 2016, read out excerpts and handed the document to the court. In her final submission, Captain Mangoum asked the court to use its discretion in sentencing the erring gendarme. In...