Pius Njawe, the founder of Cameroon’s first independent newspaper Le Messager passed away on Monday afternoon in a car accident. He was 53.

Mr. Njawe died when a car in which he was travelling was struck by a lorry on a highway in Virginia, in the United States, killing him instantly. Mr. Njawe was in the United States to attend a meeting of the Cameroon Diaspora for Change (CAMDIAC).  

According to David Akana, a Cameroonian journalist in the USA, Njawe's driver is in a critical situation at a Virginia hospital.

Journalists and collaborators of Njawe at Le Messager head office in Douala, confirmed the story and expressed disbelief with the news coming from the US.

Njawe created the French paper, Le Messager, in 1979 and in 1990 he published an "Open Letter" to President Paul Biya, which led to his arrest. In 1997 he was sentenced to two years in prison because Le Messager published an article about President Biya's health, which indicated he had a cardiac problem during a Cameroon National Football Cup Final at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadiun in Yaounde.

The sentence for publishing this article was later reduced and, due to pressures from Human Rights groups across the world, he was subsequently released after almost a year behind bars.

source: Africanews